


The Duck In Gibbs' Pond

by Bronygirl



Category: NCIS
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2016-10-27
Packaged: 2018-06-03 03:46:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 49,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6595297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bronygirl/pseuds/Bronygirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony hears from the scuttlebutt an interesting rumour, but could it be true?<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The NCIS Scuttlebutt Rumour

**Author's Note:**

> There will be a few parts that have very brief homophobia and one chapter with a story about homophobia but it's not too graphic but mentions of a few people dying.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony hears from the scuttlebutt an interesting rumour, but could it be true?

NCIS headquarters. Time: 8:32AM. Anthony DiNozzo was sat comfortably reclined in his office chair, feet on his desk, and his mind distracted. Staring at the glaring skylight above him, he pondered over something he had just heard.

 

"Is something wrong, DiNozzo?"

The commanding voice of his superior, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, boomed from behind him and making him jump in his seat.

"No boss."

"Good, then grab your gear and let's get going. Dead navy officer to deal with. Tim, let Ducky know."

Tony made quick to collect up his things, as did his two co-workers, Tim and Ziva.

"On your six, boss." he yelled, almost tripping over his own feet to catch up to him at the elevator.

 

The journey to the crime scene was relatively silent, apart from honking of horns from passing motorists who didn't appreciate Ziva's driving.

Pulling up not far from where the police had already cornered off the crime scene, she was the first to speak.

"So, Tony. You're clearly distracted this morning. Would you like to share?"

"No, I don't think I do." he said, trying to be nonchalant whilst retrieving his gear from the back of the van.

"Leave him, Ziva. Obviously daydreaming about some young thing in a short skirt

Tony gave him a rather forced smile, the urge to head slap the younger agent was very much present, but he resisted.

"Well now, I'd hate to disappoint you, probie, but that's not it."

Both of them looked at him in surprise.

"Then what?" Ziva asked, "Is it to do with your father again?"

"No, no, he's fine. I'll tell you on the journey back, okay?" Tony replied, looking around to see where Gibbs currently was.

 

Moments later, Ducky arrived on scene, and Tony was immediately watching any interaction between him and Gibbs.

"Ah, Jethro. A rather interesting body to start off my Monday morning." Ducky said with slight amusement in his voice.

"Always the best for you, Duck."

Gibbs patted Ducky on the shoulder, a touch he'd done a thousand times before and Tony had thought nothing of it. Now however he saw it as something much more than a friendly pat.

Kneeling down and placing his bag beside him, Ducky looked at the corpse before him.

"Right, let's see what we've got here. Oh and could someone go fetch the gurney for me?"

Gibbs quickly stuffed his notepad and pen back into his shirt pocket and was already heading towards the autopsy van.

"On it, Duck."

"Thank you, Jethro."

 

Normally their boss would bark for one of them to assist Ducky in Jimmy's absence, yet he didn't? It was most un-gibbs-like.

"DiNozzo, quit staring and go help McGee."

That however...

 

Behind him, Tim was grabbing the last of the equipment from the van, and it was clearly more than he could handle.

"Will do, boss."

Taking the camera case from his co-worker, he talked in a hushed voice to him.

"You see that, Probie?"

"See what?"

"Gibbs actually went to get the gurney for Ducky."

"Well yeah, cause that's usually Jimmy's job, but he isn't here. What's the big deal?"

"Nothing apart from the fact that in any normal circumstance one of us would be doing that for him."

Ziva tutted at him.

"So Gibbs did him a favour so that we could do our own work, Tony. Come on, we've got to get the photos and sketches done before Gibbs shouts at us for taking too long."

 

Thanks to the assistance of local police, they got their work done rather swiftly, and Gibbs even assisted Ducky in getting the body into the van. Again, Tony watched with great interest.

"Tony, give me the damn camera stuff. What are you even looking at?"

His head whipped round as Tim was grabbing the camera stuff out of his hand.

"Shh!"

"Don't shush me. You're acting weird today, Tony."

"I think 'weirder' is the more suitable word, McGee." Ziva said over her shoulder as she headed for the driver's side of the van.

"Ha ha, very funny. Look I'll tell you in a minute."

 

Once everything was packed up and they were all back in the van and returning to the yard, Ziva looked over often at Tony's face, seeing his conflicted expression.

"Well, it's just the three of us again, Tony. Mind telling us why you've been so distracted?"

"If I tell you two this, will you promise not to breathe a word?"

"Something to do with Gibbs?" Tim asked.

"How did you know?"

"Just a hunch, knowing that if Gibbs found out whatever you know about him, your days would be numbered."

Ziva started to get impatient.

"Come on, Tony, stop leaving us in suspense."

"Well...word from the scuttlebutt says Gibbs is seeing someone."

"That's not really all that surprising." she said.

"And so is Ducky."

"Again, not world news."

"It is when the rumours are the people they are seeing are each other."

Tim and Ziva stared at Tony before a honking of horns redrew their attention to the road.

"Geez, Ziva!" Tony yelled, his heart thudding fast.

"That's not funny, Tony." she said, sounding now even more irritated than before.

"I'm just saying what I heard."

"If Gibbs so much as catches a whiff that you're spreading such a rumour, he will probably have your tongue for a trophy. In fact I would very much like it if he did that."

Tim couldn't help but smile at that.

"I know, which is why I seriously need you two to keep quiet. It could just be a stupid rumour, but I was thinking about it and it wouldn't really surprise me if it were true."

"So, a heterosexual man who has had four wives and an elderly man who's had his own fair share of female encounters and you think they're seeing each other?" Tim said, clearly not believing it for a second.

"I very much doubt they're suddenly gay, Tony."

"Well there's bisexuality. Can go both ways. It's a whole new world today, Ziva. Men can be with men and women can be with women." he let out a wistful sigh at that last one, "And besides, they've had their moments."

Now Ziva was shaking her head. It was truly a ridiculous notion.  
"They're very close, I admit, but they have been friends for a long time."

"So maybe they decided at some point to take it to the next level."

"You are so dead if Gibbs finds out what you said."

"I'm just saying. Now focus on the road, will you?"

 

The three of them remained in a silence that stretched on through to them sitting at their desks. Gibbs looked between them, wondering if something had happened. Still, whatever it was, he couldn't deny that the silence was rather nice for once.

Looking at his watch, he decided that now was a good time to pay Ducky a visit down in autopsy. Normally by now he would have something to tell Gibbs about their new body.

 

"Ah, Jethro, nice timing." Ducky said without even turning around to face him.

"What you got for me, Duck?"

"Our poor unfortunate ex-marine here appears to have had a run in with something not too tasty."

"Such as?"

"Well going by the contents of his stomach," he reached over for the bowl containing the contents he'd scooped out, "he has been eating leaves."

Gibbs looked for a split second before motioning for him to put the bowl out of his sight again. He never did like looking at stomach contents, but he did it for Ducky's sake and sometimes it made for better understanding of his theories.

"As in just ones of the trees?"

"Most definitely, and pine needles. I know that some choose the vegan lifestyle, but really, there is more than enough fruit and vegetable produce available, I can't see why he would eat such thing. I did however know of a chap who just loved the wild, and would often make himself some pine needle tea. Apparently they are very high in vitamin c. Personally I would rather eat an orange."

"Aside from that?"

"Not much else to say, but I feel that the source of the poison that killed him may have been in that lot. I've got to send a sample up to Abby once I've stitched this poor fellow back up."

 

Gibbs could feel Ducky sliding closer beside him, causing an urge to pull the shorter man into his arms. However, he knew that at work they would have to remain professional. Clearing his throat, he moved away slightly.

"I should get going, Duck." his voice came out almost a whisper.

"I know. Just a quick one?"

 

Gibbs stood in front of the smaller man so that his body somewhat hid their interaction from the security camera located in the far corner of the room. Not that they were all that discreet when it came to physical interaction at the best of times, but much of it was stuff that was always seen as just friendly.

With a sigh, Gibbs smiled, wrapping his arm around the smaller man's waist and their lips connected. Their kiss was brief but full of meaning. Parting, he stared into the doctor's eyes and smiled.

 

Behind them, Abby sat staring at the sight that welcomed her on the PC screen in front of her via the webcam. She froze for a moment, speechless and feeling guilty knowing that she wasn't meant to have just witnessed their interaction.

 

The lift pinged and she quickly cut off communication, leaving the two men clueless that they had just been caught.

Tim entered the lab, carrying a cup of coffee in one hand and caf-pow in the other.

"Hey, Abby. Had any luck on the finger prints found at the crime scene yet?"

"No, I've not had any hits yet." she quickly said, still not over the shock.

"You okay?" his voice full of concern, "You look like you just saw a ghost."

Rubbing her hands over her eyes briefly, she tried to shake away the image that sat on the front of her mind.

"I'm fine, just been feeling a bit under the weather today."

Tim's hand clutching her drink moved away, and she reached out for it like a child craving its juice box.

"I probably just need caffeine and I'll be fine."

She took a long slurp of it, immediately feeling the effects.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. Look, I need a favour. I've got to get those samples from Ducky. Can you just keep an eye on that and if you get a hit, let me know, okay? Or let Gibbs know first, obviously."

"Sure, Abbs."

"I'll be glad when Jimmy comes back, saves me from having to keep going there myself or Ducky having to come up to me."

 

Normally she would take the stairs as she didn't mind the exercise, but then felt she would be better taking the lift in case they were still doing...that. At least the lift would give them a fair warning.

 

Slowly she approached the door, and when they slid open, Ducky sat alone at his desk. He turned to her and gave a rather bashful smile.

"Abigail, my dear. I'm ever so sorry I haven't brought those samples up to you yet, I completely lost track of time. You should have called me on the cam-thingy rather than coming down here personally."

"Actually...Ducky, I did try to."

"Oh?" Ducky looked momentarily confused, "Sorry, I must not have heard you. "

"No...I don't think you did."

"Are you alright, my dear?"

 

Abby briefly glanced at the webcam; the thing that started this. She certainly didn't want Tim to overhear their conversation if AFIS should find a match any time soon.

"Can we talk somewhere more private than here?"

"Of course."

 

He opened the door to his office and beckoned her through. She didn't quite know how to approach the subject, but knew Ducky well enough that he wouldn't have a go at her for what was genuinely an accidental intrusion of privacy. Gibbs on the other hand...

"Now, what's wrong?" he asked, sitting down in the chair opposite her.

 

She took a brief moment to think of how to explain without simply blurting out that she knew. Looking up, Ducky was giving her a very concerned look.

"Well, as I said, I did try to contact you through the webcam and... no, you didn't realize."

"I didn't mean to upset you by ignoring you."

"I know you didn't. It's just...the camera turned on and I saw...you and Gibbs."  
It took a moment for Ducky to realize what she meant, making him blush deep red and he had to look away from her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't even think I would see such a thing." she said, "I promise I won't say a word to anyone. You know me; my lips are most definitely sealed."

Taking a deep breath, she awaited the man's response, but after a long silence, she started again.

"Ducky? I'm really sorry. Also, I really want you to know that I'm happy for you both. You have my support."

 

Another more brief silence followed until eventually Ducky had pulled himself together enough to speak. His mind was in full throttle with panic and a small bit of self loathing because it was he who talked Gibbs into it.

"It's alright, my dear. It was a mistake on our part to have..." he finally looked back up at her, "let our sudden emotions get in the way of our work."

Leaning forward, Ducky rested his hand on hers.

"Abby, I promise, I'm not mad at you. There was no way you would have known what you would have seen when that camera turned on."

"I am sorry. Really, really sorry. And I won't say anything to Gibbs either. I know he can be really private and...If anyone else finds out, it won't be from me."

"I appreciate it."

Abby blushed as Ducky placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Now, those samples I've been meaning to give you."

"Right. So how long?"

"Abigail." He said in coyly, making her giggle.


	2. Curiouser And Curiouser

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The curiosity of the scuttlebutt rumour starts to rub off on the other members on Gibbs' team.

The knowledge that their brief encounter in autopsy lead to someone knowing about them slightly spooked Ducky. He knew that Abby would keep her word about not telling anyone, but now he was thinking about the security cameras. How many of them caught the brief touches, hugs and even those few sly kisses they'd been having over the last few months?

So lost in his thoughts he didn't even notice his lover sit beside him on the couch and start to kiss down his neck.

"Duck, you seem distracted. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, Jethro, really it isn't. I've just been tired of late." he lied, knowing that it was probably evident that he was lying.

Gibbs could definitely sense something amiss, but also knew that it wasn't worth pestering Ducky about. When he was ready to tell him, he would.

"Need to be in bed a little bit earlier." he said, going back to leaving kisses in the same spots as before.

Ducky let out a chuckle.

"Well you don't exactly make that easy now, do you?"

"If you want to go to bed without me disturbing you then just say so."

"But then I'll be lonely." he said with a smile that made Gibbs roll his eyes.

"Dammit, Duck."

 

A couple of days passed and after extensive chases with McGee on the computer trying to track their killer who was incredibly skilled in avoidance, the killer was arrested and the body could be laid to rest. Feeling satisfied with himself, Gibbs strolled into the squad room, whistling as he sat down at his desk.

"Boss, you're in a good mood."

"Yeah, McGee. Caught our killer; why shouldn't I be?"

"I guess so."

Drinking down the last of his coffee, he knocked the cup into the bin to join the 4 others he'd already had that afternoon alone.

"You did a good job, Tim. I really thought we weren't gonna catch that bastard."

Tim felt himself burst with pride as Gibbs smiled at him.

"Thanks boss."

 

Gibbs returned to filling in the last of his paperwork, still smiling not only at their success but the fact that Tim was happy. Sometimes he knew he didn't praise his team enough; Tim especially.

"Ah, Jethro." Ducky appeared carrying a paper bag, and Gibbs' smile grew wider, "I got what you asked for."

Gibbs looked in the bag before looking up at the older man, blushing slightly.  
"That's good, Duck, thanks."

He then gave a signal purely with his eyes that only the two of them seemed to understand as Ducky knew to turn around.

"Ah, Timothy. Good job today."

"Thanks Ducky. Yeah, wasn't easy, but they don't get away from Elf lord that easily."  
Inside he berated himself for using one of his own embarrassing nicknames on himself. It was however amusing to the other two men, so maybe it was worth it.

"Anyway, I must get going. I'll see you two gentlemen tomorrow." Ducky said placing his hat upon his head and smiling at Gibbs again.

"Yeah. Night Duck."

"Night Ducky."

Tim finished his work and turned off his computer, all the while his mind wondered what was in the bag Ducky had handed over that made Gibbs blush the way he did. After having received such high praise he knew though not to ruin it by being nosy about its contents. It wasn't his business after all, but he started to ponder on Tony's scuttlebutt rumour.

 

The next morning, Tim was smug as he told Tony and Ziva about his praise. He knew that this would likely piss Tony off since he always seemed to be seeking Gibbs' approval. As expected, Tony was aghast about it.

"Gibbs complimented you and we missed it?"

"It's not a big deal. After all, it was my persistence that helped track him down."

"So was Gibbs smiling?" Ziva asked, not at all bothered about it all.

"Yeah, kinda. Then Ducky came up and told me how good a job I'd done."

"Okay, come on, something is going on with them."

Ziva was quick to head slap Tony for once again bringing up what was considered just a stupid rumour. Tim kept quiet since he too was now pondering more and more on whether the rumour had any truth

"There's one thing I do know." Tony said, rubbing the back of his head, "Ducky went back to Gibbs' place last night."

"Oh, so you're stalking them now?" Ziva said, rather shocked.

"No. Look, there's this hot chick that lives on the same road as Gibbs, and I saw that Ducky's Morgan was parked up outside Gibbs' house. When I got up this morning, Ducky's car was still there."

"So Ducky stayed the night at Gibbs' place. Who cares? It proves nothing. You're paranoid, Tony. Paranoid and obsessed with something that isn't there."

"I'm telling you, there is something going on."

Tim thought back to the night before. He recalled Ducky saying he was going home and left at least an hour before Gibbs packed up and left for the night. Maybe something came up and Ducky then went over to Gibbs' to help or talk? No, he had to stop pondering over this. It was still a ridiculous notion in his eyes because it was clear Gibbs was very much straight.

"Well," Tim said, standing, "whilst you two keep on arguing about this, I'm going down to Abby's lab. Just in case either of you had forgotten, she has invited us to her Halloween bash next week and needs to know who's going."

"What's the party plans this year exactly?" Tony asked, "Cause that haunted house we had it in last year was just...hinky."

Ziva couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"That's why it's called a haunted house, Tony. I should actually join you, Tim. I need her advice on a costume anyway."

As the two of them walked off, Tony soon gave in.

"Alright, hang on, I'll come down too. I don't want to be here when Gibbs comes up and finds that none of us are at our desks."

 

Leaving the lift , Abby's music was blaring as loud as always, but it was definitely more a Halloween themed playlist of tunes. Like every year, the lab was decked out in skeletons, pumpkin toys and cobwebs. A motion censored witch head in the doorway cackled loudly, making all three of them jump.

"Abby! Abbs!" Tim shouted over the noise, relieved when she saw them and turned it off.

"Hey guys. What brings all three of you down here at once?"

"We wanted to talk to you about this year's Halloween plans."

"Really? Brilliant, because I wanted to run some ideas past you and get your opinions. I don't want this to just be a repeat of previous years. I want it to be scarier than ever!"

"As in you planning on inviting Gibbs?" Tony said as a joke, disappointed when he didn't get a laugh.

Abby gave him a glare.

"Funny, Tony, really. No, I want real ideas."

"Do you actually ask Gibbs if he would attend?" Tim asked, "I thought for you he would attend at least the once."

"No. We all know he doesn't do these sort of things and I can't force him to."

"How about we call him up and ask him altogether?"

"I doubt an attempt on ganging up on him would work in the slightest. I mean, I'm not going to call him just for that! Gibbs is down in autopsy at the moment so-"

"Is he?" Tony's face lit up all of a sudden and he started making his way to the door.

"Tony, where are you going?"Abby asked.

"Autopsy. Gotta go...talk to Gibbs."  
His attempt at a lie was poor, not that he cared, but it did make Ziva quickly grab him by the arm.

"No you don't, you just think Gibbs and Ducky are dating each other."

"What?"

Abby panicked. How did they know? Tim, despite wanting to go with them, rolled his eyes.

"One of Tony's scuttlebutt rumours. He's convinced it's true. I don't know what you expect to see down there. Besides, they'll hear you come down in the lift."

"I'm not taking the lift."

Tony had wrenched his arm free and was off down to the stairway, Ziva and Tim both in pursuit.

 

Quickly, Abby rushed to the phone, ringing autopsy and praying Ducky or Gibbs picked up. Down below her, Gibbs and Ducky were in the office. Gibbs had the older man pinned against the wall just behind the door, kissing down his neck.

"Phone, Jethro."

"I know. Just ignore it."

"I can't, it might be important."  
Before Gibbs could say another word, he broke contact and reached out for it. On the other end, Abby was pacing and muttering to herself.

"Autopsy."

"Tim, Tony, and Ziva are on their way down."

"Okay, yes, thank you, Abby."

"What did Abby want?" Gibbs asked, wrapping his arms around his lover again only to be gently pushed away.

"Nothing important. Put your jacket back on, quickly."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

 

By the time the three had snuck their way to the autopsy doors, Ducky was sitting nonchalantly at his desk, a random file open in his hands whilst Gibbs sat leaning against the autopsy table nearest and was about to ask Ducky what was going on.  
It wasn't the most foolproof of plans because, of course, the doors had a motion sensor. The door slid open and Gibbs stood, cross armed and glaring at the three of them all crouched down on the floor.

"Lift broken, McGee?" he asked, irritated at the interruption.

"Er, no, boss." Tim quickly stood.

"So what have you got to tell me?"

"Um...nothing really."

"Then why are you all down here?"

Ziva stepped forward.

"Well I came down to see Ducky actually, and these two idiots followed me."

"Oh, Ziva, my dear, what can I do for you?"

"Well if you're busy talking to Gibbs then I don't wish to intrude. So maybe I'll come back later."

"No need, Ziva, I'm heading back up now. McGee and DiNozzo, the two of you, come with me."

"Now, my dear. What can I be of help with?"

She mentally head slapped herself since she was now stuck with no real reason for being there other than spying on them with the other two.

"I...wanted to ask your opinion on something."

"Well I'd be happy to help."

Quickly, an idea formed, and although she knew she'd have to endure a lecture, it was easier than admitting she was nosing into his private life. This, she knew would hurt his feelings greatly and she certainly didn't want to do that.

"Well, Abby has her Halloween party coming up soon, and...apart from the fun of it, why do people dress up in costume?"

"Ah, the history of Halloween, or All Hallows Eve as I once remember hearing it..."

This was going to be a long lecture.

 

Gibbs spent the rest of the day away from autopsy. There was a slight niggling question in his mind about what his team knew and he wanted to make sure he asked Ducky once they were properly alone. As he sat at his desk, he looked over at Tim and Tony, but they gave him no clues as to what they were thinking.

This evening, Gibbs' went to Ducky's place in Reston; bottle of white wine in hand. By the time he'd gotten there, dinner was almost cooked. As he let himself in with the key Ducky had given him, he sniffed and smiled when he recognized it as steak. He loved Ducky's cooking more than any posh fancy restaurant food he'd ever eaten.

"Hey, Duck. Dinner's smelling great." he said, placing the bottle down on the kitchen sideboard and wrapping his arms around the smaller man from behind.

"I'm glad you think so, my dear. It will be ready in just a few moments. The table is already set so go sit down and I will join you soon."

"'kay. I've brought wine by the way. Should I pour you a glass?"

"That'd be wonderful."

Gibbs kissed Ducky's neck once, twice, three times before leaving him to it.  
Dinner was just as delicious as it had smelt. The stake was cooked the way he liked it, the roast potatoes were crisp and flavoursome, and the wine he'd picked out managed to work perfectly with it.

 

After dinner was finished and the plates were in the dishwasher, they relaxed on the sofa in front of the fireplace which was now flickering away and keeping them warm.  
Ducky let out a contented sigh and nuzzled against Gibbs' neck as he enjoyed the peace. It was however sadly short lived as Gibbs sat up a bit, looking at his lover seriously.

"Duck, why did Abby ring you?"

"I just had her look into some records, that's all." he lied automatically.

"And then the other 3 sneaking around and taking the stairs. You telling me to look normal. There's something you're not telling me. Duck, do they know about us?"

With a heavy sigh, he gave in. Despite it being a while since Abby found out, he hadn't actually planned what to tell Gibbs when it became clear that people knew. He was partly hoping that they would maybe announce their relationship at some point and knew that Abby would just play along like she hadn't suspected anything in the first place.

"Abby...called me about the finger prints on the last body we had in via the camera. I didn't know it was on yet alone her being able to see us."

Gibbs stood and Ducky felt regret immediately flood through him.

"She saw us?"

"Yes."

"And you were going to tell me when?"

There was a slight bitterness in his voice that he couldn't keep down as he started pacing the floor in front of Ducky.

"I didn't know how. This relationship of sorts wasn't what either of us had expected to happen. I just feared that someone finding out would scare you away and the arrangements would be broken off. It was an accident, Jethro, and Abby has been as good as her word for not saying anything."

"Then why did the others sneak down to autopsy like they knew?"

"I don't know, but I do not believe she was the one to tell them. You know Abby as well as I, and she would never divulge such a secret, especially one involving you."

Gibbs approached the drinks cabinet and filled a tumbler with Macallan, drinking half down in one go. He stood silently in deep thought for a few moments.

Deep down he knew that this would happen at some point. If anyone were to ask him if he was ashamed of his relationship with his long time friend, he would say no without a second thought. And yet, to be pretty much outted before he was ready made him slightly annoyed.

"Jethro?"

He poured himself another half glass and swallowed it down.

"I guess that people finding out would gradually be inevitable."

"Well they still could not know. We could always just call the whole thing off?"

" Do you want to?" Gibbs looked momentarily panicked.

"No, of course I don't."

Much to Ducky's relief, Gibbs sat back down on the sofa beside him.

"Good, because I don't want to either."

He let out another rather heavy sigh, leaning in to give the older man a soft kiss to the lips.

"I'm sorry, Jethro. I know I should have told you sooner."

"I'm not angry with you, Duck. Tomorrow I'll have a word with Abby. I'm not going to have a go at her, I just wanna talk to her about it."

"Okay. You know eventually we should let the others know though to take the pressure off Abby. Not straight away of course; whenever you're ready is fine with me."

Gibbs made a grunt of agreement, pulling Ducky against him and claiming his lips in another kiss.

"Yeah, we will sometime, Duck. Love you."


	3. The Next Step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gibbs takes some advice and decides it's time to tell the team

Much to Gibbs' relief, when they got into the office the next morning, there was no case for them to deal with. After going to his regular coffee place to get his usual and a small caff-pow for Abby, he made his way down to her lab.

On arrival he was surprised to find that the music was turned off and Abby was sat with Tim in deep discussion.

"Morning boss." Tim said with a small smile.

"Gibbs! You come bearing a gift for me?" Abby said in her usually bouncy tone, taking the caff-pow handed to her, "And I haven't even given you anything because we have no case to work on. It is truly an honour."

"Abby, I need to talk with you. In private."

 

Tim nodded in understanding and without a word, he left. Silently, she locked her lab door and they went to her office. She locked that door too for some reason and sat down nervously.

Clasping the caff-pow in both hands, she looked up at Gibbs like she was about to be scolded.  
Gibbs sat in the seat opposite her, sensing her apprehension.

"Abby, I need to know something."

"Sure, Gibbs."

"Ducky told me that...you are aware of me and him."

Even though she had a feeling it was coming, she was still panicked and rushed to explain herself.

"It was an accident, Gibbs, I swear to you. Please don't be angry."

Gibbs kept his tone neutral as he spoke.

"I'm not angry with you, Abs. I just need to know how the others know."

"Well they don't exactly know, per say. Tony heard it as a scuttlebutt rumour and was convinced it was true without knowing it was. I never said a word about what I knew and when they found out you were down at autopsy, they decided to take a snoop via the stairs. That's why I rang Ducky to warn you both in case anything was going on that they weren't meant to see."

 

Abby was worried. Yes, Gibbs was a man of few words, but sometimes his prolonged silence could be very intimidating.

"I didn't mean to find out until you were willing to say something. I just want you to know I support you one-hundred percent and want you both to be happy."

Taking everything in, Gibbs breathed a small sigh and reached over to rest his hand on hers.

"It's okay, Abs. I appreciate what you did."

"You forgive me?"

"Nothing to forgive. If it was an accident then it was mine and Ducky's fault for not going somewhere more private in the first place."

"So are you two still okay? I mean, with what happened yesterday, I hope neither of you have gotten cold feet about the whole thing."

She was rather happy to see Gibbs shake his head and smile.

"He's not getting rid of me that easily."

"Yay!"

With her bouncy attitude back, he pulled her into a hug and kissed her head.

"Thanks Abs."

 

After that, Gibbs and Ducky made sure to not let their relationship get in the way at work, which he started to find rather difficult. Seeing Ducky in his blue scrubs, they made his eyes so more vibrant and he could feel emotions swirling in his stomach the longer he looked at his lover. This however did make their home life more interesting with Gibbs pouncing out of nowhere, keeping Ducky on his toes often.

That being said, it didn't always end in sex; in fact it rarely did. Gibbs always remembers when he first married Diane and they had sex at least twice a day most days. It lead to the point where he was struggling; tired of being expected to perform time and time again until he was avoiding her.

Fortunately, he also knew that Ducky appreciated closeness and comfort much more than just sex, and whilst this was something Gibbs had already suspected long before, he found that he too appreciated it. That being said, he was always a man of few words, so was always giving Ducky hugs and kisses as he best way of showing his feelings.

 

Ducky had never felt so loved, and he couldn't help contain his euphoria as they went about their work. When out on the field, he did best to contain it given the circumstances. After all, looking pleased to see a dead body was rather disrespectful.  
Down in autopsy he studied the wounds of the petty officer lying on the table before him.

"It appears, my good fellow, that you have a love bite just below the collar bone. I wonder who gave you that, hm? Some wonderful young lass I should imagine. You know, I've never actually received a love bite on any of my encounters. Still, I guess it's never too late. For all I know, I could be sporting one tomorrow."

"Sporting what, Doctor Mallard?"

Turning around, Ducky was delighted to see Jimmy Palmer standing in the doorway.

"Ah, Jimmy! So glad to have you back, my boy."

With a beaming smile, he pulled Jimmy into a brief, one armed hug.

"It's great to be back. I've missed you, and this place of course. Anyway, I've obviously interrupted your discussion with your guest."

"Hmm? No, no, it's perfectly fine. In fact it will probably be more beneficial for me to talk to someone who will actually respond."

"Have things been busy whilst I was gone?"

"Very much so. A few cold cases passed through along with fresh ones. All rather exciting, and it made me value the assistance you offer me."

"Really?" Jimmy flushed with pride. "I am of course very happy to be back. I'll just go change and I'll be right out."

Turning back to the petty officer, Ducky smiled.

"You know, one day that boy will make a smashing M.E."

 

Gibbs stood on the balcony overlooking the bullpen. Tony was surfing porn sites again from the looks of it, Ziva was having what she calls a "bat nap" and Tim was nowhere to be seen.

Behind him, the door of MTAC opened, and director Vance stepped out.

"Agent Gibbs. What luck; I wanted to talk to you."

"Did you now, director? What have I done wrong this time?"

"Let's go to my office to discuss this."  
Slightly irritated already, he followed Vance and sat down when he was motioned to do so.

"What is it then, Leon? I've done something wrong, I can tell."

Vance sat down in another chair, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Well it's not so much something wrong I suppose."

"You suppose?"

"Well, I know all about your rule twelve. Never date a co-worker?"

Gibbs clenched his eyes shut and cursed under his breath.

"Now I know someone in security who's been picking up little things on the cameras. These particularly happen between you and doctor Mallard. Combined with the scuttlebutt rumour, it makes it pretty clear what's going on."

"So you gonna sack us or something? Blackmail maybe?"  
For a moment, a look of hurt passed across Vance's face.

"Jethro, I know I can be a hard ass, but relationships happen in this building all the time, and believe it or not, yours isn't the first gay relationship to happen here. I admit, I am quite surprised given your track record. Is there anything you want to explain about that?"

"What is there to explain? Doctor Mallard and I are in love. Took a long time for us to get there, but that's all there is."

"And the rest of your team? Do they know?"

"No."

"Then maybe it's time you told them."

"That an order, Director?"

"Do you want it to be? I say it as a friend, Jethro. I doubt they'll think different of you if you did."

"What about you?" Gibbs asked, eyebrow raised like he was expecting a catch.

"As director, so long as you both do your jobs I have no protestations. As a friend, I wish you both luck. No blackmail, or sackings are going to happen."

Feeling relief flood through him, Gibbs let out a chuckle.

"You're not so bad, Leon, you know that?"

"You're only discovering this now?"

Gibbs nodded, smiling.

"Now go get your work done...and take care of him. Maybe you two do actually deserve each other."

 

Leaving the office, his mind was swirling a bit out of control. He wasn't really all that surprised to find that the security cameras had caught them, but now he felt that he was going to have to make his decision sooner or later about letting others they care about know. The lift doors opened, and he turned to see Ducky approaching him, looking concerned.

"Jethro?" he said, wanting to reach out and touch but resisted in case anyone else saw them,

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Duck, I'm fine. Can you...go down to Abby's lab and I'll meet you down there in a few minutes?"

"Very well. Should I ask why?"

"You'll soon know."

 

Ducky did as he was told and went to Abby's lab, butterflies starting to flutter in his stomach. He gave a small smile to Abby.

"Hey Ducky! You need something?"

"Not really, my dear. Something tells me though Jethro has something planned."

"Something good or something bad?"

" He told me to come down here. I feel he's planning to tell the others about us."

"Oh...well that's good, right? I'm guessing he didn't actually ask you beforehand whether you were comfortable with it?"

"No, my dear. However, I am okay with it and had suggested a few times that when he was ready we should formally announce it."

Abby pulled Ducky into a gentle hug.

"It'll be alright though. I mean, if it's what you both want then go for it. I doubt the others will treat you any different. I certainly haven't."

"I know, dear Abigail, and I appreciate it. I know that I'm comfortable with all of this. I just hope that Jethro won't have any regrets once it's out in the open."

 

Gibbs returned to the bullpen, smiling. By this point Tony had finished his unsavory web browsing, Ziva was awake again and typing away on her computer and Tim had returned from wherever he had been previously.

"Everything okay, boss?" Tony asked, having seen Gibbs go to the director's office.

"Oh, hunky-dory, DiNozzo. The three of you, Abby's lab. Now."

"Why boss?" Tim asked, "I've just been down there."

"Important meeting, so get going. I'll be there, just gotta make a stop at autopsy."

 

"Palmer."

"Yes, agent Gibbs, what can I do for you? I'm afraid that doctor Mallard isn't here-"

"I know. Come with me up to Abby's lab immediately."

"Yes sir."

 

As everyone gathered in the lab, Ducky waited in the back room for Gibbs to arrive. Everyone apart from Abby looked confused, and Gibbs couldn't help but smile at their expressions.

"Hang on, we'll get to it in a moment."

Spotting Ducky, he approached him, seeing him looking rather nervous.

"You okay, Duck?"

"Jethro, I do wish you had warned me you were going to do this."

"It was your idea, Duck. Besides, the director knows about us and says that we should probably do this. "

"I know, but a little chance for me to prepare?"

"Sorry. I just...I wanted to do this before I lost my nerve. You know I'm no good at this kind of thing."

Ducky couldn't help but smile and forgive him immediately.

"Well, they're all here now, Jethro, and it would make it a lot easier on us."

"I suppose."

"They aren't going to think any differently of you. You're still their boss."

"Might as well get this out of the way."

"Yes. Five dollars says Anthony gloats about his scuttlebutt sources."

"Oh no, Duck. You and I both know he will do."

 

As Ducky and Gibbs rejoined the group, everyone fell silent. Taking a deep breath, Gibbs was the one to speak.

"Alright, we'll keep this short and to the point." Looking to his left, Ducky was looking at his feet, blushing. With a small smile, he reached over and took his hand.

Tony felt laughter bubbling in his throat and was ready to gloat. Abby was smiling, relieved that she wasn't going to have to keep it a secret anymore. Ziva and Tim looked at each other, both surprised, but nothing could beat Jimmy's face. He'd only been gone two months yet he came back to this.

"Ducky and I are in a relationship. We...felt it was time you all knew and we hope you're okay with it."

There was a few moment's silence, and as expected, Tony was the first to react, letting out a laugh.

"I knew it! I mean, let me first congratulate you both and sure, I got no problem with it, but my scuttlebutt source already gave me the heads up."

Ducky smiled, looking up at Gibbs who smiled back. Whilst it didn't seem like a big thing, they had taken the next step in their relationship.


	4. Tis The Season

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas is fast approaching and plans are made for the festive day.

Christmas arrived after what felt like barely a few months since the last one, and the offices were decked with a tree and festive ornaments once again. In its usual reserved spot by the window, a pile of toys and games for the local children's hospital was piling up and when the big screens were not being used for any case details, all of them displayed their usual festive message.

 

In Abby's lab, which was also now adorned in Christmas cheer, she and Ducky were cooking a Christmas pudding with the traditional Mallard sixpence lost somewhere within.

"This is nice, Ducky. I promised we would do this and I'm glad we did."

"I quite agree, and of course, appreciate you taking the time out to do this."

"Well it's not like we have a case to work on."

"Hush, my dear, please don't jinx it."

Abby giggled.

"Sorry. So have you decided what plans you have for Christmas day?"

"I haven't to be honest. Jethro never did seem one for the festivities, and I don't want to force him into doing anything."

"Aww, Ducky, that's sweet, but surely he must make some exception for you."

"I'm sure he will, but in his own Gibbs-esque way."

"Is that what you call it, Duck?"

"Ah, Jethro. We were just making a Christmas pudding."

"Next up is decorating the gingerbread men. Gibbs, you wanna join in?"

"No thanks, Abs."

 

Ducky wordlessly looked up at Gibbs, putting on a small pleading look. For a moment, Gibbs implied he was not falling for it before playfully rolling his eyes.

"I'll decorate one."

"Great." Abby smiled, guiding Gibbs over to one of the empty side benches where a row of freshly baked gingerbread men sat, "I've got twelve different colours to choose from so go nuts and enjoy yourself."

 

Sitting down at a bench, he looked at the blank biscuit before him unsure of what to do. An idea struck him, and he reached for the blue and dotted the eyes, using the black he attempted as thinly as possible to add glasses. With the brown he added hair, looking over his shoulder briefly to see Ducky's current hairstyle. Last off, the red, making a bow tie and a smile, and with a moments consideration, used to white to at least give it a lab coat.

Looking at his creation, he let out a small laugh.

"I'm done" he said, resting back with a smile.

Abby looked over and let out a squeal of delight.

"Oh my god, Ducky, you gotta see this! Gibbs turned him into a little you!"

"Oh it's wonderful, Jethro."

Grabbing her phone, Abby took a photo of it.

"Okay, that one's definitely yours then, Ducky. Maybe you should do one of Gibbs."

"Well my artistic hand isn't much to be desired."

"Neither is mine, but I managed that."

"Do you wanna do another one, Gibbs?"

"No, I'm good. Said I was only gonna do the one. I should probably get back to my desk." he stopped and kissed Ducky on the top of his head before gently ruffling his hair, "See you later, Duck."

"Okay Jethro."

In the corner of Ducky's eye, he could see Abby grinning.

"You two are so cute together!" she said, making Ducky blush.

 

A few hours later in the bullpen, Gibbs let out an angry growl and banged his hand on top of the computer monitor.

"McGee, this stupid thing isn't working!"

"I'll deal with it, boss."

Taking a deep breath, Gibbs stepped away from his desk so that Tim could take control and fix the problem. He looked at his watch and decided it would just be better if he went home. All his paperwork was up to date for now so he didn't really have any reason to stick around.  
The anger quickly drained from him.

"Thanks Tim. Don't stay too late trying to fix it."

 

Picking up his stuff, he first drove home to quickly showered and changed his clothes. As he was about the step out the front door, he stopped in his tracks a moment before changing direction and heading instead towards the basement.

He pulled away at a secret panel in the wooden slats and pulled out a small shoebox. For a few moments, he sat staring at it, unsure whether he was going to take it to with him. Eventually, he decided it was worth a chance. Returning the slat to its place and making sure it was secure, he left for Ducky's house.

 

Arriving in good time, he rang the doorbell and waited. The air had turned much colder than it had been a few days ago, and he was sure he could sense snow in the air. Ducky appeared within moments, his hair was all askew, a few dirt patches on his face, bowtie undone and shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbows.

"Jethro, come in. I apologize for my appearance, I've just been getting the decorations from the loft. Much to my delight, not long after I arrived back here, the fellows with my Christmas tree arrived."

Gibbs entered, thankful to now be in the warmth.

"Do you need any help?" he asked, looking around at the boxes that sat around the living room.

"If you want to, it would be most welcome."

 

It was then Ducky noticed Gibbs had a small box under his arm. Gibbs saw the confused look that spread over his lover's face. Taking a deep breath, he held it properly with both hands.

"Duck...I was wondering..."

Gibbs faltered, feeling tears prickle in his eyes.

"Jethro? What is it?"

He asked, taking the box from him and opening the lid to reveal a fairy tree topper made of paper and cardboard. Its hair was made of yellow wool, golden tinsel decorated its dress, and its smiling face slightly crude as if drawn by a small child.

"Kelly...made that when she was four." he paused, trying to hold back a small sob. "I've not had a tree since...I lost them. Since I won't be again this year either. I was wondering if..."

"I would put Kelly's angel on my tree?"

Gibbs couldn't speak and now had his hands covering his face as tears started to fall.

"Oh, Jethro, I would be delighted to. I'm sure Kelly would be happy with that as well.

This time, Gibbs' sob was clearly audible as he sank down onto the floor. Panicking, Ducky put the box carefully on the side table and knelt down beside the younger man.

"Oh Jethro." he said again, wrapping his arms around Gibbs' shaking form. "Come here, sweetheart."

They didn't often use such endearments on each other, but every now and then, Ducky couldn't help but do so. It was also not often that he saw his lover express such emotions like this, especially when it had to do with Shannon and Kelly. After all, it was no secret between them as to how much guilt the man had been carrying around with him all those years.  
They stayed on the floor for a few minutes until the sobs gradually subsided. Gently, Ducky turned Gibbs' head towards him, kissing where the tear streaks were.

"Kelly's angel will have pride of place at the top of the tree. It will from this Christmas onwards, I promise."

"You're so good to me."

"Two way street, Jethro. Although could we possibly move to somewhere a bit more comfortable?"

Getting up off the floor first, Gibbs helped his lover to his feet.

"Sorry, Duck, I wasn't-"

"It's alright. Come on. I'll pour us some whiskey."

"Thanks Duck."

 

Pouring them both a generous glass each, he sat down beside Gibbs on the sofa and passed one glass over. For a while they sat in silence. Gibbs stared at the tree that stood in the corner of the room. It was very big, and just having it moved around had resulted in needles dropping off. This though he already knew was a regular occurrence at Christmas anyway since Ducky always favoured a proper tree.

"Jethro, if this isn't a good time to ask then just say so, but what should we do about Christmas day?"

Taking a large swig, Gibbs shrugged.

"Dunno. What did you wanna do? I know you and Abby made that Christmas pudding."

"I was thinking maybe bring the rest of the team over here for the day. It would be nice all  
of us spending Christmas together."

"If that's what you want."

"But I want you to want it too."

"I told you, Duck, I don't mind. I'm leaving it up to you."

Putting his glass down on the table, Ducky lay against Gibbs and put his arm across his lover's stomach.

"I just want our first Christmas together to be memorable."

"I'm sure it will be."

"Jethro-"

The rest of his words were cut off as Gibbs pulled him in for a deep kiss.

"Ducky, I want this, okay? Send the invites out when you get the time and we'll have a great day."

"Thank you."

 

The invitation to join Ducky and Gibbs for Christmas day was a welcome surprise for all. Tim immediately confirmed his attendance, and Ziva and Tony promised to get back to him as soon as possible.

Next stop on the invitation route was down to see Abby, even though Ducky had a good idea as to what her answer was going to already be.

"Abigail, my dear."

"Hey, duck-man!"

"I have here an invitation to the Mallard and Gibbs Christmas day dinner." he said proudly, brandishing the invitation with a flourish.

Abby took it, an ever present large smile on her face.

"Gibbs agreed to this?"

"He said he was okay with it, but I sometimes wonder if he does these things just to appease me. A part of me doesn't want to go ahead with it though if he's not actually happy about it."

"But you and I both know what Gibbs is like when he disagrees with something. Maybe this is truly what he wants, but wants to be all nonchalant about it?"

"I don't really know."

"Well, see how it goes. Maybe this could now become a regular thing depending on how Gibbs reacts on the day. So our mission is to make this the best Christmas Gibbs has ever had!"

"So that's a yes to the invitation?"

"Like you had to ask?" Abby pulled Ducky into a hug, "Do you think you could get Gibbs into a Christmas jumper?"


	5. Moving On. It's Been So Long

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Gibbs celebrate Christmas together, and Gibbs realises that he's never celebrated the season properly since Shannon and Kelly's deaths.

Ducky hummed a tune to himself as he finished wrapping the last present and placed it under the tree. Happy with his progress for tomorrow, he sat back on the sofa and sipped from a glass of ginger wine.

The past few years had been hard for him, spending Christmas alone for the most part of it since his mother's passing. That though was now about to change for the better.

The front door opened and Gibbs banged the toes of his shoes on the front step in an attempt to remove most of the snow that had gathered on the soles.

"Hey Duck. Sorry I'm late. Had to go pick up some last minute presents."

"That's fine, my dear. Is there anything you want me to wrap for you since I've got all the essentials still here?"

"Nope, I'm good. I don't want you to see what I got you yet."

"Well in that case I'll leave the stuff here for you to wrap them and make some tea. I promise I won't peek, just let me know when you're finished."

"Thanks Duck."

 

He wasn't the best at wrapping. Cutting the paper was rather haphazard and made Ducky jump at one point as he cursed out loud because the end of the sellotape was impossible to find. In the end however, he'd managed it and had successfully labelled each item to make sure they all went to the right person.

"Oh and I forgot to tell you," Ducky called from the kitchen, "Mr Palmer won't be joining us. He shall be enjoying the festivities with Breena and her parents this year. Still, best that he keeps his in-laws happy."

"Yeah, probably for the best. Diane's mother despised me because I wouldn't join in on Christmas day. More often than not Diane went by herself. I've finished wrapping now, Duck, you can come back in."

 

Sitting down next to Gibbs, Ducky rested his head on the other man's shoulder.

"Wonderful. I can't wait to see what you've got me."

"You'll have to wait until morning to find out though."

"Can I maybe have one after midnight? It is technically Christmas day then."

Ducky playfully put on a doe eyed look, making Gibbs smile and shake his head.

"You really are a big kid, aren't you?"

"Maybe. One might argue that you bring it out of me."

"Do you know what you bring out of me?"

Ducky cocked his eyebrow and smiled.

"What?"

 

Within seconds, Gibbs had pulled Ducky's bow tie loose and made short work of popping the top three buttons of his shirt. His mouth then latched to the skin that was exposed, causing Ducky to let out a soft moan.

"Mmm Jethro."

Ducky shuddered as the teasing mouth started pathing its way up his neck, teasing him when suddenly.

"Oh!" he exclaimed as teeth latched onto his ear lobe, nibbling and tugging slightly.

He'd never had that happen to him before but he immediately knew that he liked it.

"See what you do to me?" Gibbs whispered, his voice even more husky than usual, "See what you spur within me."

"Oh very much so. Of course, the feeling is quite mutual. "

"We'd better do something about that then, shouldn't we?"

 

Standing and helping Ducky to his feet, he was quick to pull him close again and leant down to kiss him again.

"Come."

Together, they headed for the staircase, not dropping the embrace as they went until Ducky suddenly stopped in his tracks halfway up.

"Ah, I forgot my cup of tea."

"Don't worry about it, Duck, I'll make you a fresh one later."

It didn't take any convincing to get Ducky to follow him to the bedroom, where he soon forgot about tea entirely.

 

The next morning, Gibbs awoke to the smell of Ducky's cooking. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock. It wasn't long after seven, but they had a busy day ahead so decided he'd best not sleep any longer.

He stood and opened the curtains, surveying the white wonderland that greeted him. It had definitely snowed again overnight, which he knew would make Ducky happy. With a cold shudder, he returned to the bed and sat down where, for a few moments, he allowed himself to sit and remember...

 

"Mommy! Daddy! Wake up! Santa's been!" the little brunette haired girl yelled excitedly and jumping up onto her parents bed.

"Kelly, sweetie, it's just gone five a-m." her mother said, drowsy but smiling.

"But Santa's been already! We need to open our presents."

"They'll still be there in a few hours time." Gibbs said, also smiling and pulling the girl into his arms, "Just a little while longer and we'll open them. Just be patient and go back to bed, okay?"

"But daddy...I wanna sleep here."

"Come on then."

Shifting himself away from the center, Gibbs lifted the duvet and Kelly slid underneath.

"Merry Christmas, daddy."

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart."

 

A large clang brought him back to the present, and couldn't help but smile when he heard a very blue curse word erupt from downstairs.

The morning air was certainly chilly, so he quickly grabbed one of his USMC sweatshirts, pair of jogging bottoms and thick socks before making his way down stairs to investigate.

"Hey Duck."

"Morning, my sweet."

Gibbs pulled Ducky into his arms and they kissed slow and deeply. Knowing they'd have to go the day in each other's company and tone down their behaviour for their guests, they wanted to savour the moments they had.

After facing the fact that they both needed oxygen, their lips finally parted again, but the embrace still held firm. It was then Gibbs noticed Ducky's jacket, which was dark red and had a soft velvet touch to it. Gently he ran his fingers along it, remembering that it was the same one from the first Thanksgiving they spent together.

"Everything alright, Duck? I heard you say something that was most unlike you."

"I'm sorry, my dear, I'm just a bit all over the place this morning. I didn't wake you did I?"

"Nah, I was already awake. You been up long?" Gibbs asked, running a hand through Ducky's hair.

"Since around six. When, may I ask, will we be opening gifts?"

"You mean you haven't already?"

"Of course not, I wasn't going to do so without you.

"We could do now unless..."

"Dinner won't burn in my absence."

"Come on then."

 

With his arm around the shorter man, they diverted to the living room where Gibbs' eyes fell on a very large box wrapped in shiny gold paper and topped with a red bow and his name on the tag.

"I admit, my dear Jethro, that I was unsure of what to get you. I hope that it's good enough."

"Pretty big though. You didn't have to wrap it at this size."

"Would spoil the fun if I hadn't though. Although the bottom of the box isn't wrapped since, as you can see, lifting it by myself would have been a problem."

"How did you-"

"It was delivered yesterday about an hour before you got home."

Tearing away the paper, he looked rather surprised at first, then delighted.

"Oh Duck."

"I recall you saying that your woodturning lathe was becoming unfixable so I thought...well, as you can see."

"You got me a new one." Gibbs said with a smile.

"Oh, and the best bit is it comes with a floor stand so you don't have to clear worktop space to use it. I know it's not much but-"

"Not much? These things aren't exactly cheap! Duck, I love it."

" Not like I have anyone else to spend my wages on."

Gibbs frowned for a second at his words, pulling Ducky back into his arms and kissing him again.

"Thank you. It's exactly what I wanted."

"I'm glad. I racked my brains for-"

 

He was stopped as Gibbs kissed him, over and over again.

"Jethro, what has gotten into you today?"

"I love you, Duck. I love you so, so much."

He kissed Ducky again, unable to hold back and slipped his hand around his neck and cradling his head, the kiss becoming more and more deeper. Even as their lips parted, he continued to leave little kisses around his lover's face.

"Jethro, you're actually scaring me a little."

"Sorry, Duck, I just...When I woke up this morning, I remembered the last Christmas I spent with my girls; not knowing that was going to be their last. I want us to spend many more Christmases together, and I want each one to be special."

 

Ducky was rather poleaxed, although he often was whenever Gibbs let his barriers down enough to show his emotions. It was these moments though that showed who Gibbs was underneath his often unfriendly appearing exterior, and this was the man that Ducky fell in love with.

"Now, maybe it's time you opened your presents. I...I hope that you like them. I know I'm not good with getting people presents."

"It's better than not getting me anything, no matter what it is."  
Gibbs still looked nervous as Ducky tore away the paper from the first item.

"New bow ties. How wonderful." Ducky said with a smile.

Despite the large collection he already had, he was quite happy to have some more. One had amusing little cartoon corgis on, another had robins, and the third was the colours of the Scottish flag. This now explained to Ducky why several weeks before, he had spotted Gibbs looking through his bow tie drawer.

"They're adorable, Jethro."

 

He reached for the second small wrapped item.

"Another bow tie."

"This one is only for use for today though."

Looking closely he noticed it was more a gag gift with little flashing LED lights and music. The next item was merely an envelope, but upon opening it, his mouth dropped.

"Are these..."

"Yeah, Duck."

"But it's been sold out for months. It's always quick to sell out."

"Well, I know you love that Gazelle opera show."

"Jethro, how many times do I have-" he stopped when he realized that Gibbs was saying the name wrong just to tease him, "You cheeky bugger. And they're box seat tickets. How wonderful. I noticed there are two tickets."

"You can take whoever you want with you."

"You mean you don't...?" his smile suddenly dropped.

"Now you know opera was never my thing."

Ducky huffed and Gibbs silently berated himself.

"Who else would I want by my side? But I suppose I can't force you to go; I completely understand."

Ducky tried to put on a convincing smile, and Gibbs returned it, but he too knew it was fake.

There was only one present he had left to give him, but now felt that the moment was ruined and was unsure whether to hand it over now. Before he had the chance to decide, Ducky returned to his feet.

"They're wonderful presents, Jethro. Thank you. I love you."

The hug that followed was slightly uncomfortable, and Gibbs cursed silently to himself again.

"I love you too, Duck. So very, very much."

 

Still holding a slightly forced smile, Ducky removed his current bow tie and slipped on his gag tie and tested it as 'Frosty the snowman' rang out from it in a high pitched trill. Gibbs immediately flinched at how corny it was, but at least the lights looked nice.

Ducky gave another small smile and wordlessly returned to the kitchen. For a few minutes, Gibbs sat down and thought what he was going to do to get things back on track before the others arrived. He knew it was true though, he didn't like opera all that much, and it was two hours long for crying out loud!

Taking consideration though, for Ducky's sake, he could maybe put up with it. He let out a chuckle to himself. All the wives he'd had after Shannon who tried to get him to do things he hated and he was firm in refusing to do them. Yet Ducky brought about something in him that made him more susceptible to his suggestions and requests.

Maybe it was because his last three wives were merely poor attempts at replacing Shannon whilst Ducky most certainly wasn't. He loved Ducky whole heartedly for who he was without question. None of this he would be willing to admit out loud, but he knew that it was true.

 

Standing and making his way to the kitchen, he hoped that they could make up quickly so that none of the others would have to see them angry at each other.

Ducky was stood at the sink cleaning up some utensils when he walked in. Walking up behind the smaller man, he kissed the top of his head and put his hands on Ducky's shoulders.

"Ah Duck, I thought maybe you'd have wanted to have taken someone much more intellectual than me to the Opera, that's all. I'm sorry for upsetting you."  
"There's nothing to be sorry for, but I reiterate, that you are who I would want at my side."

"Then I will happily go with you. I just can't promise I'll be good company. You can take the boy out of Stillwater, but you can't take Stillwater out of the boy."

"Believe me, my dearest Jethro, I have been aware of that fact since the day we first met, yet it hasn't stopped me from loving you."

This time and much to Gibbs' relief, Ducky's smile was genuine.

"Duck, I know I've said it a lot this morning already, but I love you."

"I don't think I could ever tire of hearing you say that. Now you can make it up to me by wearing this today."

Ducky handed a black coloured Santa hat over to Gibbs who raised his eyebrows at the sight of it.

"Really, Duck?"

"Abigail was hoping I'd get you wearing a Christmas jumper too, so be glad I didn't buy you one. Although I can really see you in a wooly Rudolph jumper, with a flashing nose, and maybe some little bells."

"Alright, alright, I'll wear the hat." he said with a laugh, putting it on at a jaunty angle."Now is there anything I can help you with?"

"No, it's fine, dearest. I should imagine the others will-"

Before Ducky could finish his sentence, the doorbell rang.

"I'll go get it, Duck."

Swiftly making his way to the front door, he was greeted by the sight of Abby dressed in a knee length red skirt with white trim, a bright red long sleeved top with a smiling reindeer on and 2 small bells attached to the ends of her pigtails that jingled lightly when she moved. In one hand she carried a large container that was obviously the Christmas pudding, and in the other a sack containing presents.

"Gibbs! Merry Christmas!"

"Abby, you look great." He replied, pulling her into a side hug.

"As do you. I never thought I'd see you in a Christmas hat. I've got the Christmas pudding!"

"Ducky's expecting it. He's in the kitchen."

"My dear Duck man, I bring you our Christmas pudding!" she declared, placing it down on the kitchen table where there was a space before pulling Ducky into a hug.

"Abigail, my dear, you look wonderful!"

"As do you. Such an adorable bow tie! Does it play music?"

"Music and flashing lights. The whole shebang, my dear." he said with a wink.  
Pressing the center, the LED lights flashed and a very tinny version of 'Jingle Bells' trilled from it.

"That so cute, and I see you got Gibbs into a Christmas hat. I didn't expect that. And best of all, it's black instead of red. I want one! Where can I get it?!"

"Hmm? Jethro, you're wearing it backwards, my dear."

Ducky reached up and turned it around so that the lettering was visible. Looking again, she laughed as she saw the words 'Bah Humbug' imprinted on it.

"That is so you, Gibbs. I love it! Anything I can do to help?"

"No, my dear, I've got everything under control in here. Oh and thank you for bringing the Christmas pudding along. I've got some sherry somewhere that we can pour onto it but for the life of me I can't remember where I put it. Still it's not important right now."

 

Gibbs re-adjusted his hat, it already felt a bit itchy to wear but he knew he would put up with it for one day. At first he hadn't noticed the lettering on it, but even he couldn't help but smile.

"I'll have a dig through the drinks cabinet and see if I can find it. If you need any help with anything else, Duck, just tell me."

"I will, stop worrying about me, dearest, I can handle all this perfectly fine."

"Okay, but don't overdo it though."

Ducky smiled as he felt Gibbs wrapped his arm around his waist pulling him close and kissing him briefly on the lips. Behind them, both men could feel Abby's eyes watching.

"Enjoying the view are we?" Gibbs asked with a small smile as he broke contact and headed for the living room.

"I'm just happy that you're both happy."

"C'mon, Abs, let's leave Ducky to his stuff and get the drinks sorted out before everyone else gets here."

 

One by one, the others arrived, and soon the house was full of laughter and chatter. With the usual festive tunes emanating from the CD player in the living room, Abby was following the others around, a sprig of mistletoe on her hand.

"C'mon, McGee. The mistletoe is above us."

"Abby, you do this every Christmas."

"I know, so you should have expected this by now."

Rolling his eyes with a smile, he indulged her with a brief kiss.

"What exactly is this?" Ziva asked, surveying the glass of creamy white liquid with a frown.

"It's egg-nog, Ziva." Tony proudly declared, pouring himself a glass, "One of the staples of the American Christmas holiday."

"Does it have real eggs in?"

"Oh yes. Try some, you'll like it." He smiled at the thought of her making a gruesome face after taking her first sip, but was disappointed as she proceeded to gulp down the half glass she had and was refilling it.

"You're right, Tony, it is good."

Before he could comment further, Ducky interrupted them.

"Okay, my dears, dinner is served."

 

The table in the dining room was decked covered in a deep red coloured cloth, where rested in the center was a circlette made of pine needles, decked with red bows and finished off with a large red candle that let off the scent of cinnamon.

Each place was set out with wine glass, napkins (each one had been folded into the double star shape), and of course, a Christmas cracker each.

"That's a lot of red." Tony said, taking the seat next to Ziva.

Tim took his seat next to Abby, whilst Ducky and Gibbs sat at opposite ends of the table.

Ducky did the honour of carving out the turkey, and everyone tucked into the other side's including Gibbs' favourite, caramelized mash, honey roast parsnips.

"Duck, your cooking is amazing." Gibbs said over a mouth full of red onion stuffing, "I hate myself for rejecting any previous offers to join you for dinner."

"There will be many more years of Christmas dinners for you to enjoy, my dear. And every other dinner. We can certainly make up for lost time."

Ziva stared at the miniature bits with confusion.

"Is that a sausage with bacon on?"

"Known as 'pigs-in-blankets'."

"Cute, but for obvious reasons, I'll pass. Besides, why do you need to wrap one type of pig meat with another?"

"That's just what we do. Some people even wrap bacon over their turkeys, but lucky for you, Ducky didn't."

 

Soon the room was silent apart from the sounds of eating and cutlery clinking on their plates. From their opposite ends, Gibbs and Ducky kept catching each other's eye, and Abby smiled as she noticed one of Gibbs' hands form the 'I love you' sign language to Ducky who did the same in return. Unsurprisingly, no one else around the table noticed the exchange.

The meal went down well, leaving them all feeling slightly bloated but very satisfied. After taking a while to let his food go down, Ducky stood and started to collect up plates and cutlery. Wordlessly, Gibbs joined in clearing the table.

"Dessert will be but a moment my dears, I hope you have room. One of you may get the Mallard sixpence!"

"I don't think I can eat another bite." Tim murmured to Abby.

"But Ducky and I worked hard to make that pudding."

"I know, I know, but I am."

"Well make sure you have a dig around your piece for the sixpence and eat that bit if you find it. Ducky will probably just be happy that the tradition continues."

 

In the kitchen, Ducky started to load up the dishwasher, but Gibbs halted him.

"Don't worry about the dishes, Duck, let's get the pudding out."

"But it all adds up at the end of the day, and I can't avoid it."

"Duck." Gibbs kissed his cheek and gently pulled him close, "We'll deal with it later. Come on."

"Very well. Have you got the-"

Gibbs handed him the bottle of sherry, the top already loosened.

"Do your thing, Duck, but please be careful."

"I'll be fine, Jethro."

 

Placing the pudding on a large tray he then carefully heated a soup ladle of sherry and poured it over the pudding and lit it. Gibbs followed closely behind Ducky as he carried it back to the dining room, ready to help if anything should go wrong.

Fortunately, Abby had already made sure there was a large clear space on the table to safely put it down, and now had her camera in her hand to take photos of the flaming pudding.

"One Christmas pudding, that dearest Abigail and I made together. I warn you now, there is a sixpence somewhere, so please be careful not to choke on it."

Everyone applauded and carefully, he placed it down in the empty space. They sat in silence and watched the flames peter out before Ducky served generous amounts in each bowl, topped with double cream.

Gibbs let out a sound of delight as he tasted it.

"Duck, Abs, this is damn delicious."

Abby grinned from ear to ear and blushed.

"I'm glad you think so, Gibbs. We can do it again next year, right Ducky?"

"I do hope so, my dear."

Tim dug around in his bowl, eating small mouthfuls in between, struggling and silently praying someone finds the sixpence soon.

"Oh, what have we here?" Ziva pulled a piece of silver from her bowl with a flourish.

"Yay! Ziva!" Abby let out a squeal of delight, again reaching for her camera and taking a photo of the occasion.

" Ziva, my dear! You've got the sixpence! May you have wealth and good health in the year to come. Now, would anyone like any more pudding?"

 

Everyone vocalized how full they all now were so Ducky lead them to the living room where he and Gibbs took the sofa. Tim and Tony had a brief playful scuffle over the armchair, but after a disapproving glare from Gibbs, they both agreed to give it up so that Ziva could sit. After all, there were floor cushions already provided.

Abby meanwhile, still clutching her camera, took a photo of the tree which was now lit up in all its glory. As she took the picture, she noticed that the angel sat perched on top was not the one Ducky had used in previous years.

"We haven't had a group photo yet." Tim pointed out.

"Oh my god, we haven't! Okay hang on, I'll put it on timer so we can all be in it."

Fiddling around with the settings, she then found the right angle and managed to balance it on a shelf the right height.

"Okay, hopefully this will work. Everyone ready?"

Setting the timer, she quickly sat down on the floor between the sofa and an armchair, and everyone posed. After the flash had gone off, Abby retrieved her camera and smiled at the photo on the screen.

"Wow, it actually worked first time. Tony! Did you have to give Tim rabbit ears?"

"Sorry Abs, I couldn't resist."

"I'm so glad Ziva did the same to you. Anyway, it's time for gifts!" Abby declared, opening her Santa sack she'd brought in earlier and handed out gifts.

Ducky took Abby's present with a word of thanks.

"Our gifts to you three are under the tree just there so do sort them out amongst yourselves. Jethro and I have already exchanged gifts with each other."

"Not all of them, Duck."

"Oh. I didn't realize otherwise I would have-"

"It's okay. I was a bit...shy about giving you this one."

 

Handing over the wrapped box, everyone simultaneously ignored their own presents and watched. Gibbs could feel everyone's eyes on them, and he tried best to ignore the stares. Instead he kept his eyes firmly on his lover, gauging his reaction.  
Pulling at the wrapping paper to reveal the red box, Ducky opened it and gasped at the item inside. Everyone else sat with bated breath as Ducky struggled to get the words out.

"Jethro...Is this...a Cartier bracelet?"

"Yeah, Duck."

Taking the gold band out and holding it up to the light, he read the writing engraved on the inside of it. One simple word. 'Forever'.

"Oh, Jethro." Ducky felt the tears build up in his eyes, "These bracelets are so very expensive."

Gibbs merely shrugged.

"So?"

"You didn't have to do this."

"Yeah I did." he responded, taking it and slipping it on Ducky's wrist. "Because you deserve it."

Reaching into his pocket, Ducky pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his eyes. Had it not been for their guests he most likely would have made love to Gibbs there and then on the floor. Instead he opted for pulling him into a hug, holding him tightly.

"You are the most wonderful person I've ever known. Oh my dear, wonderful, Jethro."  
The other presents were well received and as they assisted in clearing up the paper that littered the floor, Tony pulled a DVD from his bag.

"So, how about a movie." he asked, waggling a copy of 'It's A Wonderful Life'.  
With a sigh, Gibbs looked over a Ducky who smiled at him.

"Alright, alright. Put it on."

 

"Look daddy!" The young girl on the TV said in her sugary sweet voice, "Teacher says, every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings."

Ducky looked up at his lover and smiled, snuggling even closer to him and nuzzling his neck. To his delight, Jethro responded, wrapping his arms further around him, a kiss gently placed on his temple before his head was resting atop his own. This to Ducky was heaven, and it continued to surprise him just how romantic his old friend could really be.

As the TV went dark, Gibbs found everyone at some point had turned to look at them again. All except Tim who had at some point drifted off into a deep slumber.

"Duck man, you've er...you've got the remote." Tony said, trying to hid a grin.

"Oh, so I have." Ducky's face a bright red as he pulled out of the embrace and handed it over, "So who wants another drink?"

"No more for me thanks. In fact I should get going." Ziva said, going to stand. "It was truly wonderful experiencing this holiday with you all."

"It was wonderful having you here, my dear." Ducky said, standing and pulling her into a hug.

"I'll see her out, Duck, you sit down."

The two of them headed back into the hallway, and Gibbs pulled her into a light hug.

"Thanks for coming, Ziva."

"Thanks for inviting me, Gibbs. It was certainly different. It's quite amazing...seeing you and Ducky together...he really means that much to you."

"Yeah." he said, looking away with a blush.

"Take care of him. With a bit of luck, fifth time lucky."

 

Stretching his arms out with a groan, Tony collected his DVD from the player and packed away his stuff into his bag.

"I admit, I think I'm also ready to take my leave. Thanks for a fantastic meal, Ducky."

Reaching out, they shook hands.

"It was nothing, Anthony. I'm glad you had a wonderful time and thanks for bringing that movie along with you."

"Thanks for suggesting it. As you know, it's tradition for me. Just glad Gibbs put up with it."

"Well you know his bark is often worse than his bite."

"Maybe so, but his head slap is sometimes worse than his bark."

Picking up his stuff, he briefly pulled Ducky into a one armed hug.

"Take care of yourself, Duck man."

 

Before Gibbs had closed the front door after watching Ziva leave, he was surprised to see Tony standing behind him.

"You goin', Tony?"

"Yeah, boss. Was a great day, thanks for having me. Hope you didn't mind me bringing that DVD."

"No, it's fine. Your tradition after all."

"Ours now, boss. Presuming we're doing this again next year?"

"Dunno yet. That's a whole year away."

Tony nodded, opening the front door again and stepping out onto the porch.

"Well I really do hope that you and the Duck man will still be going strong by then, and the Christmas after that, and...you get it."

"Yeah."

Gibbs patted Tony on the shoulder with a smile.

"See you back at the old grindstone."

"Yeah, see ya, DiNozzo."

 

In the kitchen, Ducky was finally able to do the dishes that he had ignored for several hours. Whilst he did not always have such a need to clean everything immediately after use, with the amount that needed to be done, he would have rather have started sooner than later.  
He had however for his lover's happiness managed to ignore them until now and was cleaning up several items and balancing them on the drainer.

Behind him, he heard the chiming of the bells on Abby's pigtails, announcing her presence.

"Ducky, can I help with the washing up?"

"Thank you, Abigail, my dear. Can you dry the items I've already washed? The dishwasher is filled to the brim so these last bits will have to be done the normal way."

Grabbing a tea towel from the worktop, she got to work, smiling as she thought about the day's events.

"I think everyone had a wonderful day. Even Ziva looks like she enjoyed it."

"Well I certainly hope so. I know her beliefs are different and I respect that, so I'm glad she agreed to come today and try celebrating a different holiday."

"Gibbs seemed really happy too. It was good seeing him getting into the swing of the season, even if it was a bit...un-Gibbs-like."

"I think that's just how he is, but it's fine with me."

"That bracelet he got you was really nice."

"Hmm. I feel kind of guilty thought, not having bought him something as expensive too."

 

Both of them jumped when Gibbs suddenly appeared behind them without them hearing him approach.

"You don't have to, Duck. You've already given me enough."

"Oh, but Jeth-"

He was silenced by a brief kiss.

"You've given me enough." he repeated, "Okay?"

"If you say so."

Abby pulled out her camera again.

"Can I just...take a photo of you two? Come on, you both look so happy."

 

Pulling off his rubber gloves, Ducky put them down and smiled as Gibbs stood behind him, wrapping his arms around his lover's waist and resting his head on Ducky left shoulder.

Ducky responded by reaching his left hand up and caressing Gibbs' cheek.

Beaming from ear to ear herself, Abby took a photo and looked at it for a moment, feeling tears gather in her eyes.

"Let's see it, Abs."

Passing the camera over, Ducky made a sound of delight when he saw the picture. Despite their height difference they still fitted snuggly together, and both of them looked so happy together.

"How wonderful. I hope you will give us a print out of this?"

"Of course. I'll make sure you get print outs of all the pics I took today."

Gibbs stared at the picture, feeling his emotions building. He'd never seen himself come out so happy in a photo since...

"It's great, Abs." he said, his voice a whisper and he handed the camera back before sharply turning to leave the room.

"Jethro?"

"I'll be back, I just gotta...hit the head."

 

Abby bit her lip, feeling suddenly guilty. They all knew it was a lie.

"Do you think I upset him?"

"No, my dear, of course you didn't."

"Then what did I do? I've never seen him as happy as he is in this picture."

"I have. I once saw a picture of him with Shannon and Kelly in his wallet. He looked so content."

"He's never been as happy since they died, has he?"

"From what I've seen. Even when he remarried, each time he was...kind of happy, but never truly happy. His eyes, you see, they didn't twinkle the way they used to."

Abby continued to look at the photo, studying it.

"Until now. You really do something to him. It might be good for him. I mean, he does good for you too, doesn't he?"

"Of course he does. After mother died- no, when she fell ill, I was so lonely. No woman that I briefly spent time with understood me. Look at when I was with Sophie. She almost made me sell this place and even stupidly had me wearing different ties. All she did was try to change me rather than accept me for who I was; who I am."

"And Gibbs does."

Ducky simply nodded with a happy smile.

"Part of me expects to simply wake up one day and find it was just some very long and bizarre dream."

"Oh, don't say that, Ducky."

Abby pulled him into a brief hug.

"Don't say what?" the slightly groggy voice of Tim caught their attention.

"Ah, Timothy, you're awake."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"It's no problem at all."

 

Tim was looking around, confused.

"Where's Tony and Ziva?"

"Oh they've already left."

"I think it's time I did the same. Today was really wonderful. Thank you and Gibbs so much for having me join you."

"Thank you for coming."

"Where is Gibbs?"

"I'll go find him. Do excuse me a moment."

 

As Ducky left, calling Jethro's name.

"Something wrong, Abby?"

"Look at this picture I took of them."

"Wow. Never seen Gibbs so happy."

"I know. Showing it to him made him a bit sad actually."

"Really? How come?"

"Shannon and Kelly."

 

Knowing what she meant, he nodded just as Ducky returned with Gibbs two steps behind him. Everyone tried to ignore the slight redness around Gibbs' eyes.

"Thanks for coming today, Tim." Gibbs said with a small smile, holding out his hand.

"Thanks for the invite, boss. I'll see you at work the day after Boxing day?"

"So long as we don't get called out to anything, yeah."

"Okay, great. I'll make my own way out and leave you guys to finish washing up."

"I see, Timothy McGee." Abby said with a playful glare, " You're escaping before you get roped into helping clean up."

"Yeah, you got me! Pleeeeeease boss, don't make me!" he joked, relieved when Gibbs smiled.

"Go on,get outta here, Tim."

 

And with that, Tim picked up his stuff and left. He felt rather sad having seen that his boss had evidently been crying, and the reason behind it. Of course he didn't ever plan to say it out loud, but he was really hoping that Ducky was key to helping Gibbs move on.

"I should get going too." Abby suddenly said, "Leave you two to wind down from the day's excitement."

Both Gibbs and Ducky felt silently relieved and thankful at Abby's words.

Abby approached Gibbs, pulling him into a hug.

"This was such a wonderful day. I hope we'll have a just as great Christmas day next year."

"Yeah. Thanks Abs. So glad you came today."

They parted half way and Gibbs gave her a kiss on the forehead before pulling her into another brief hug.

"Travel home safely," his voice becoming softer by the moment, "and remember to give us a print out of the pictures."

"Will do."

"I'll see you out, Abigail. Jethro, if you wouldn't mind-"

"Yeah, I'll finish up in here."

"Thanks dearest."

 

When they reached the entrance hall, Abby spun around, concern evident on her features.

"Is everything going to be okay?"

"I'm sure it will, my dear. One can only imagine how he must be feeling right now."

"Such a shame that the day has ended with him feeling this way. I just wanna hug him and not let him go until he feels better, but I'm sure you'll do that for me."

"I'll do what I can."

Abby wrapped her arms around Ducky, holding him tightly.

"I know you will, so yeah, everything will be fine. He loves you so much, that much is clear. I think I was the only one who noticed him sign to you at the dinner table."

"He's made a habit of signing that to me of late, hence I learned to do it back."

"It's sweet...There's a lot of sweet things going on with you two. It's amazing in a way. Anyhoo, I should get going and leave you two to...to yourselves. Thank you for the gifts."

"You're very welcome, my dear, and I shall see you in a few days time."

As Abby left, Ducky looked out at the snow. He'd been so busy with making sure everything was perfect, he'd not really taken a moment to enjoy seeing how nice the garden looked. His mother too also enjoyed it when it snowed. For many years when it did, the two of them used to sit on the back porch and watch as the corgis frolicked around. The best times being when the snowfall was heavy as the unfortunate things had such short legs, all but the top of their ears were visible until they would jump up to see where they were going.

 

With a shudder at the chill of the air, Ducky closed the front door and returned to the kitchen.

"That went as well as could be expected."

"It did."

There was a long silence as Gibbs focused on cleaning down the work surfaces, making Ducky more concerned since he himself was usually the one making sure the house was clean as possible.

"Are you okay? It's just you just seemed rather upset all of a sudden earlier. I was worried."

"Nothing to worry about. I'm fine."

"I hope you are. I know that you haven't really done this sort of thing in a long time. Not since...well."

"I know, Duck."

Ducky inwardly sighed. He hated it when Jethro would give short answers like that. It was like the shell around him was beginning to close up again.

"Jethro, please, don't close yourself up about this again."

"I'm not, Duck," his tone becoming slightly harsh "I know what you mean and I'm agreeing with you."

Mentally berating himself, Jethro approached his lover and held took hold of hands.

"I wouldn't have given you that bracelet with that word on if I didn't mean it, okay?" he said, keeping his voice at a much softer tone.

"I'm sorry."

Gibbs placed a finger under Ducky's chin, raising his head so that their eyes met.

"Don't be."

"Rule six?"

"At times like this, rule six doesn't apply. It was just...seeing that photo...I realized."

"Realized what?"

"I'm happy...I'm moving on from Shannon and Kelly...but I'm fine with it. Despite getting married 3 other times, I never really felt I was moving on, just trying to replace what I'd lost. But this. This is different, and I can see it."

Ducky didn't really know how to respond, so simply reached up and stroked the side of his lover's face.

"Love you, Duck. Now, how about we lock up, go upstairs, and make our Christmas even more merry?"

"As if I would say no."

 

Within minutes, what needed to be done was sorted and they were in the bedroom and stripping each other of clothing between kisses.

Gently Gibbs lead Ducky down onto the bed with him, pulling him on top and claiming his lips again. Already he could feel Ducky's erection starting to poke against his stomach.

"Duck, I know that throughout this relationship I've never let you..."

He faltered on his words for a moment, but Ducky understood immediately.

"It doesn't bother me, Jethro, really it doesn't."

"But it bothers me. I want you to do it. For once, maybe you should...be inside me."

"Oh, Jethro, you don't have to do that."

"I want to. I want to know what it is that you feel every time I'm inside you."

"Well if you're comfortable with the idea, then I guess we can."

The process of preparing Gibbs took a little while, but Ducky refused to go any further until he was sure his lover was ready. As he was stretched by teasing fingers, he was soothed by Ducky's calming words of encouragement.

It made him realize that despite taking it upon himself to prepare Ducky many times before, he never gave Ducky any soothing words, just constantly asking him if he was okay. He made a mental note to do the same next time.

Finally, he was slick enough and seemed relaxed enough to go through with it.  
In Gibbs' mind, a part of him was panicking, but he quickly quashed the feelings, knowing that Ducky wouldn't hurt him and would stop if he asked him to. If he did however, he would feel guilty for having wasted their time, and most likely have gotten Ducky's hopes up.

"Do it, Duck."

 

Taking it slow, Ducky entered Gibbs for the first time, savouring the tightness as he slowly pushed in inch by agonizing inch.

"Jethro, if I'm hurting you, tell me."

Gibbs huffed out a small laugh.

"Duck, I've never done this before. Of course it hurts. I'm fine though."

Slowly, he kept going until he was finally balls deep in his younger lover for the first time.

"You made it, Duck!" Gibbs said with a smile, glad to see one mirrored in return. "Feel good?"

"Most definitely. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Feels weird. Remind me not to complain about my next prostate examination."

"Tell me when you want me to start. I won't until you're ready."

 

At first, Gibbs was still a tad on edge, and his muscles unconsciously twitched, making Ducky let out small moans of delight.

Gibbs could definitely feel the stretch, but it wasn't completely unpleasant. With his lover speaking yet more calm, soothing words to him, he took a few slow breaths before giving Ducky the go ahead.

It was slow and gentle, the way that it was often done with the roles reversed. The lubricant was definitely spreading around a bit more now, and any friction there was had gone. Now he could feel and appreciate the smooth slip and slide of Ducky entering him again and again.

 

Eventually, Ducky thrust particularly deep and Gibbs felt his breath catch in his throat and his muscles clenched tightly as his prostate was hit for the first time.

With a small shudder, Ducky laughed.

"Found my target then? Welcome to the delights of anal, my dear Jethro."

"Ah Duck, please do it again, just there."

"With pleasure."

 

For over an hour, they slowly made love, and a few times that Gibbs grew close to orgasm, Ducky waited, promising him that holding back would eventually lead to a glorious climax.

Another half hour or so and it happened. Fingernails digging into the mattress below him and long slender legs around Ducky's waist, Gibbs reached his climax yelling Ducky's name so loud he was sure it probably could have set off car alarms.

His cock twitched frantically, and he was sure he felt splashes of his own completion hit his face. It felt glorious as ripples of delight shook through his body. He felt like he couldn't breathe for a moment.

Ducky wasn't far behind thanks to the stimulation and the sight of his lover's orgasm hit through him. With a wordless cry, he shot his load into Gibbs for the first time, panting heavily and giving a few last little thrusts as he rode out his orgasm to the last twitch.

 

Exhausted, Ducky lowered himself onto Gibbs' body, arms aching and heart thudding wildly.

"Oh Jethro. That was...thank you." he said, breathing deeply, "You're amazing. My beautiful, wonderful, Jethro."

"Well that was certainly different." Gibbs said, regaining his composure, "Promise you, we will be doing that again."

"My dear, as much as I look forward to that, I must admit I'm very tired."

Gibbs reached out and pulled the quilt over them both, pulling Ducky close to his side and kissing him deep and slow before his eyes grew heavy and soon they drifted off into a peaceful sleep.


	6. Getting Honest With Dad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gibbs has a surprise visit from his father.

Gibbs awoke early, feeling strangely wide awake but also slightly sore. Looking over at his lover, he smiled at how relaxed Ducky looked. It was worth taking that step last night to allow Ducky to finally have him that way.

Sitting up and stretching, he winced as his backside ached slightly. This wasn't a surprise to him, but it wasn't exactly painful; just a dull ache for the most part. Still, since his lover had prepared him so well, it took the edge off how bad it could have been.  
"Jethro?" Ducky murmured, his voice drowsy with sleep.

"Going for a shower." he leaned down and kissed Ducky briefly on the lips, "Go back to sleep, honey."

Ducky snuggled down further into the covers, smiling as the word "honey" hit his ears, and drifted back to sleep in moments.

 

As he stood in the shower meticulously cleaning his backside, he thought about the previous day. It was without a doubt a wonderful day, which ended with them doing what he knew Ducky had wanted for a long time now. Having his team over and spending time with them like that was wonderful, and even DiNozzo was much more bearable than he could be on a normal work day. Yes, he could definitely get used to doing this every year.

 

Drying himself off, he returned to the bedroom. The urge to just climb back into bed nagged at him, but his phone suddenly trilled into life on the bedside table.

Ducky stirred, and Gibbs let out an irritated sigh that suddenly stopped when his father's name came up on the screen. He sat back down on the bed and answered it.

"Dad?"

"Hey son. I'm at your place. Where are you?"

"I spent the holidays with Ducky. Stay there and I'll come pick you up."

"No need. I can just-"

"No, dad, really, I will. In fact, I need to talk to you about something anyway. Just wait there, okay, and I'll be along soon."

"Alright then, if you're sure."

 

As he hung up he felt fingers teasingly glide up and down the small of his back, causing him to shudder in delight. turning round an leaning down, he kissed Ducky slowly for a moment and brushed his fringe away from his face.

"God you're beautiful." Gibbs thought to himself.

Ducky smiled as he gazed up, reaching his hands to his lover's face and pulling him into another kiss. The urge to join him in bed again reared its head, but he now definitely knew he'd have to ignore it.

"Dad's at my place. Gonna go pick him up and bring him back here. That's if it's okay with you?"

"Of course it is."

"Good." he gave Ducky another swift kiss, "I'll be back in no time."

He bounded off the bed and grabbed clean clothes and quickly dressed himself, stopping in the doorway.

"Don't feel that you have to get up yet. After all you did yesterday, you deserve a long rest."

"I could, but without you here, it wouldn't be as enjoyable."

"Love you, Duck."

"I love you too. Now you'd better get going. Return back safe."

"Promise."

 

After Gibbs had left, Ducky went for a much needed shower and let the memories of the night before run through his mind. He hadn't jerked off in the shower since he was thirty-something, but just the memory alone of being inside his lover for the first time made him feel his cock twitch into life.

The water spray was warm and he just couldn't help himself. For a moment he cursed himself for his behaviour and tried to get back to cleaning himself up but he easily gave in again.  
It didn't take him long at all to reach orgasm. Just the mere memory of Gibbs' face as he came was enough to complete him.

 

Gibbs parked up outside his house where his father was sat on the front porch step.

"Leroy."

"Hey dad. Merry Christmas."

He pulled his father into a hug.

"Merry Christmas, son."

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming over?"

"Thought I'd surprise you. I know that you don't do the whole Christmas day thing so thought you'd be home...We aren't going inside?"

Collecting up his father's suitcases he bundled them into the back of his car.

"Nah, Dad, going back to Ducky's, and you're coming with me."

 

He guided his father to the passenger side and opened the door for him to sit. Once they were both belted in, he started the car and drove away from what he didn't consider as home anymore.

 

They drove in silence for a few minutes. Gibbs knew he had to tell his dad about him and Ducky, but didn't know how to approach the subject. He knew he couldn't just come out with it.

As his mind whirled with apprehension, he could see his father looking over at him several times but didn't say anything. Eventually he decided that maybe easing into the announcement would be the best way.

"As I said, I spent the holiday's with Ducky. You know, Donald Mallard; my team's medical examiner?"

"Yeah, I remember him. He had some great stories to tell. Nice that you spent yesterday with him than moping in your basement."

"Well I wasn't the only one there yesterday. Ziva, Tim, Tony, and Abby from my team were there too."

"And you even joined in. That's unlike you. It's good. Very good in fact, but...still unlike you."

Gibbs suppressed a sigh of irritation and stayed silent until it passed. He still didn't appreciate it when his dad made comments about him like that. If he wanted to mope in his basement then he was free to do so.

 

Briefly he shook his head. If things all went to plan, he'd no longer need that basement, or the house at all. His days of cutting himself off from everyone down in the basement and getting drunk were possibly over, but for a good reason.

"Yeah, well, there is something I need to tell you, dad."

"Oh? Was there some redhead present too?"

 

This time he couldn't suppress a sigh. He really hoped that having Ducky there too might keep him a bit calmer.

"No. No, I've had enough of redheads."

"So who is it then? I can tell you're seeing someone. Is it that wonderful lady, Ziva?"

"No, definitely not. Believe me, she's far too lethal for my taste."

"So who?"

 

Before Gibbs had a chance to really explain, he found himself pulling up outside Ducky's house again.

"Nice place he's got. Really big though for just him isn't it?"

"Yeah. Well he lived here with his mom till she passed away. He's an only child as well."

"Poor guy. Still, you know how that feels. You should look out for him."

Gibbs huffed out a laugh.

"I do, dad, we look out for each other all the time."

 

As Gibbs removed the cases from the car, Ducky was already standing at the front door, dressed as smartly as always and also wearing one of the bow ties Gibbs had given him just yesterday.

"Jackson!"

"Donald, how wonderful to see you again! Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas my dear fellow. What can I get you? Some mulled wine, perhaps?"

"That'd be great, thanks."

"Make yourself comfortable in the living room and I'll bring the drinks out."

 

Gibbs pointed the direction his father should go before following Ducky to the kitchen.

"Duck," his voice a low whisper, "I haven't told my dad about us."

"Oh...Okay."

Gibbs could hear the disappointment in Ducky's voice, and quickly added.

"But I want to. I just...I don't know how."

"You don't have to tell him."

"I do, and I will, I promise. I'm not ashamed of this- of you." Looking down a smile grew as he noticed the Corgi bow tie, "That bow tie does look good on you."

 

With a smile, Gibbs pulled Ducky against him and leaned down to kiss him. It was meant to be brief, but as kisses always went with his lover, it quickly deepened.

"Leroy, I -oh!" They suddenly pulled apart, at the sound of Jackson's voice, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

As quickly has he appeared he had left the doorway again.

"Well, my dear, I guess that was a way of telling him."

Even though Ducky said it with a hint of humour, his eyes clearly showed his concern.

"I'll talk to him, Duck." he kissed him again momentarily, "And if he doesn't approve then it's his hard luck. No amount of argument against it from anyone will stop me from being with you. Just give us a few minutes."

"Of course. I'll...make the drinks."

"It'll be alright, Duck."

"I hope you're right, my dear."

 

Jackson stood staring up at the Christmas tree but not really looking at it. Despite trying, he couldn't focus on anything other than what he'd just witnessed. The only time his eyes tore away from the tree was when he heard his son enter the room.

Gibbs' mind raced. Looking at the man before him, he saw no readable expression. There was no way he could deny it, and he knew that really, he didn't want to. With a deep steady breath, he took another step towards his father.

"Dad, look about what you saw-"

"When were you gonna tell me, Leroy?" Voice steady but giving nothing away.

"I didn't know how to tell you. Thought you'd be..."

"Embarrassed? Angry?" his voice full of warmth, "I'm neither of those, son."

Sitting down on the couch and gesturing his father to take the armchair, he felt relief start to flow through him.

"Then what are you?"

"A little surprised, I admit, but from the from the first time I met him, and from what you've told me over the years, he's clearly a good man. He got you celebrating the holidays so that says something. "

"So...you are okay with it?"

"Are you happy?"

"Of course."

Jackson let out a small laugh.

"Then there's no problem. After what you've been through, it's about time you were happy."

Gibbs was surprised as his father's hand rested atop his own.

"You're taking this remarkably well."

"You're my son. This doesn't change anything. Just because I grew up in a time when gay people were considered sinful, doesn't mean I go by that backwards belief."

Both men were now smiling, all tension evaporated.

"That's great, dad, I'm really glad. Duck will be too."

 

Ducky eventually appeared in the doorway with a tea tray, trying to carry it steady and struggling to look Jackson in the eye. He didn't hear any arguing, but then he didn't know if they'd actually properly talked about what had just happened. After all, knew too well how good Gibbs was at side stepping issues when he was too uncomfortable.

"Here's your wine, Jackson... and Jethro, here's your coffee."

Gibbs took his coffee with a word of thanks, taking a sip from it and motioned for Ducky to sit alongside him.

"Just the way I like it, Duck." he said, wrapping his arm around his lover's shoulders and kissing the top of his head.

"Congratulations." Jackson said, holding his hand out, "You both have my blessing."

Ducky let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, and shook hands.

"You have no idea how relieved that you're okay with us. If my father were alive and I had to tell him he would have...Well I probably wouldn't have had the guts to tell him."

"But it's not a problem you gotta deal with, Duck, so don't worry."

Ducky felt a blush rise on his face as Gibbs' hand connected with his own, their fingers linking.

 

Watching the exchange, Jackson couldn't help but smile, but at the same time feel like an interloper.

"Look you two, I don't want to be in your way-"

Before he could finish talking, Gibbs stopped him.

"Dad, it's fine. You can stay here with us. Besides, if I'm working late, Duck will probably be here to keep you company."

"I thought could always stay at your house. It is still yours isn't it?"

"Yeah, I still own it for the moment. I'm working on moving out though sometime soon."

"Well there, I can be useful! I can help pack your stuff!"

"No, it's okay."

"Leroy."

"No, dad. Please." his voice raising in irritation, "I do things my way and when I'm ready."

"I only want to help you move on."

"I'll do it at my own pace." he shouted, "Why don't you understand that?"

 

Ducky stood, muttering about forgetting the biscuits before quickly leaving the room. Gibbs sighed, rubbing his face in his hands.

He hated fighting with his father at the best of times as it was all they mostly did, but he also wanted to make an effort for Ducky's sake. Part of him wasn't surprised that it didn't take long for things to take a turn for the worst.

Gibbs watched as his father put his glass down and gradually pulled himself out of the armchair.

"I'm gonna get my coat."

"No, dad."

"No, no, no. That's all I get from you! I try to help you and you say no, but then I go to leave and you still say no. What is it that you want from me?"

"Dad, I want you here, but I don't want you telling me what to do. I plan to move in here, but I need to organize everything myself."

Trying to curb his anger, his voice dropped to almost a whisper.

"There are things that are private to me and me alone. Things that even Ducky hasn't seen or knows about. It is up to me to decide what to do with them, whether I throw them out or keep them. He offered to help, I said no for now, and he's accepted it without further question. That is what I want from you."

"You've got to move on, son."

"And I am. I'm moving out of that house to live here with Ducky. Believe it or not I've moved further in my time with him than I did with any of my other wives. Now I openly admit that, but there are some things that will take longer and I have to do alone."

"Okay. I'm sorry...I just...You've been torturing yourself for so long. I want to see you happy."

"He makes me very happy, dad, he really does. I can't explain how any of this suddenly happened, but it all feels right. I'm willing to give up the basement that I spent all those years moping in for Ducky. There's a lot of change happening and I can't stand it if it all goes too fast."

Standing, he muttered, "We need more wood for the fire." before grabbing his coat and going out the back door.

 

Hearing the back door slam, Ducky returned from the kitchen, minus the biscuits he had apparently gone to retrieve. Jackson rubbed his brow in frustration, letting out a deep breath. He felt both emotionally and physically tired.

Sitting in silence for a few moments, they could hear the sound of the axe hitting the chopping plate outside as Gibbs split logs.

"I'm sorry about that, Donald."

"Not your fault."

"It is though. I'm just so glad to see he's moved on and want to see him follow it all the way through."

"You and me both, but I know that I can't push him; only support him. I just wish he wouldn't fly of the handle the way he does sometimes. I don't fully know all the demons he's battling, and I can only do so much." Ducky took a sip of his tea and smiled, "Now, I hope that you are still going to be our guest?"

"If you'll have me."

"Of course. You're very welcome here to stay as long as you wish."

Jackson felt relief flow through him.

"I appreciate it. I just hope my son feels the same way...Does he ever shout at you like that?"

"There have been times, but nothing that we haven't been able to sort out. I too offered to help him pack, but he told me that it was something that he had to do alone. I only assume that whatever it is it has to do with Shannon and Kelly, and if he wants to tell me about it then I'll wait until he does."

For a while they sat in silence, and soon the sound of the axe stopped. Ducky knew that it meant Gibbs had let out enough frustration and popped back out to the kitchen to make him another cup of coffee.

"Got some more wood, Duck."

"Thank you, Jethro. Put a small one on for now I think, just to keep the fire alight and put the others on the rack."

"I er..." Jackson started, "I was wondering would it be okay if I went for a nap? I didn't sleep all that well last night and what with the journey down here."

Ducky smiled, standing to guide him upstairs.

"Of course, feel free."

"I'll show him, Duck."

 

Once again picking up his father's suitcase, he silently lead the way up to the spare bedroom.

"Here you go."

"Thanks."

"Bathroom's just down the hall on your left."

"Right."

The case was placed down just inside the doorway to the room which was as well furnished as every other room in Ducky's house. The double bed with its thick quilt and additional blankets were a welcome sight for any weary traveller.

Jackson smiled as he sat down on the bed and noticed a photo of Gibbs and Ducky sitting on the oak bedside table alongside a lamp and small alarm clock.

He picked up the photo and could tell it was at least a decade or so old as his son's hair was still jet black and Ducky was slightly on the trimmer side but bow-tie still present.

They were smiling towards the camera, Gibbs' arm slung over Ducky's shoulders, who in return had an arm around Gibbs' waist.

"Son. I'm sorry, okay?"

"Forget it. I shouldn't have shouted at you."

"We're always shouting at each other, it's nothing new."

The curve of a smile rose on Gibbs' lips.

"Leroy...Donald is a great guy."

"I know." he responded matter of factly, turning to leave before he was stopped by a hand to his arm.

"Don't let your work get in the way of your relationship this time."

"Dad, we work in the same building."

"That's beside the point, son. You always let work get in the way of your relationships and maybe it's time you didn't. You're not as young as you used to be, and Donald...Life eventually runs out for us all."

"I know, Dad. I made a lot of mistakes before and I don't plan on making them again."

"Enjoy it. Enjoy your time with him and make the most of it. I want you to be happy, and he clearly does that for you. No more regrets."

 

Ducky was still sitting when he returned, his head leaning against the back of the couch with his eyes closed. Taking careful footsteps, Gibbs managed to approach the man without him seemingly noticing.

Leaning down, he kissed both eyelids, followed by his lips.

 

Opening his eyes with a smile, Ducky reached up and pulled Gibbs' head down again, pondering on why he'd never kissed someone upside down before and how slightly weird it was, especially as he felt his lover's tongue enter his mouth. He could taste the coffee strongly on his taste buds thanks to the different angle and it was strangely intoxicating.

"Ah Duck, you make me a very happy man, you know that?"

"I try my best, but I can't expel every demon."

"Don't expect you to. I'll always be a bit of a bastard."

Ducky chuckled as Gibbs came around the sofa to sit beside him again.

"I know all too well...I do wish though that you and your father didn't get into arguments so easily."

"He pushes me to it, Duck. I told him I'd deal with moving out my way but he just...I wish he would just understand...This isn't easy."

"Don't worry about it, he'll be okay here so try not to worry. Now, what shall we do to pass the time till lunch?"

"I don't know. Any suggestions?"

Ducky cupped Gibbs' face in his hands and took his lips in a tender kiss.

"I approve of that suggestion."

"Good, but can we make it up to the bedroom?"

"I don't think I can wait. C'mere, Duck."

Ducky laid along the couch, leaving Gibbs to carefully place his weight atop him.

"Not too heavy?"

"Nope."

"Good. But if your leg starts to hurt in any way, tell me."

 

One of Gibbs' hands found its way into Ducky's hair, tugging gently at it, making him let out a small moan and bear his throat. Taking the opportunity, he latched his mouth onto the side of his lover's neck, sucking softly so not to leave a hickey.

"Oh, Jethro!" Ducky whispered, dying to yell out louder but couldn't knowing Jackson was above them.

 

Shifting his leg between Ducky's thighs, he could feel his hardness growing rapidly. Removing his mouth, he let out a small chuckle.

"Eager, are we, Duck?"

Before he could get a response, his phone on the table came to life. With a curse, he flipped it open.

"What?" he growled.

"Boss." McGee started nervously, "I'm really sorry if I've disturbed you but we've got a dead marine down here in Quantico with a javelin through his neck."

"Aright, we'll be there."

Closing the phone shut with force, he let out another, more annoyed growl of frustration.

"We gotta go to Quantico."

"Why now of all times?"

"I don't know, Duck. It's like there's someone out to spoil our fun. Maybe I should call back and let them deal with it. Palmer can handle it."

"No, Jethro, you know we can't do that."

Gibbs got back to his feet and helped Ducky up.

"I promise, we will have a holiday sometime soon. No call outs or paperwork. Just you, me, and wherever you want to go."

"That would be most wonderful."

The kissed briefly then had to part before they ended up back on the couch.

"I'm gonna go let my dad know, you sort out the fireplace and get yourself ready."

 

Frustrated, Gibbs stormed up the stairs but managed to compose himself enough before knocking on the bedroom door and poking his head in.

"Dad." he whispered into the dimly lit room.

"Son, what's the matter?"

"Got a call. Ducky and I got a crime scene to go to. You be alright on your own?"

"Sure."

"Okay. Ducky will probably be home before I will, but if you need anything, just call me, okay?"

"I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Okay...Take care."

 

Carefully he closed the bedroom door, popped into his and Ducky's bedroom to pick up a few things and returned downstairs.

"Ready, Duck?"

"I think so. I've calmed down the fire and put the guard around it, so it should go out by itself in a little while."

"Okay. Let's get going then."


	7. Photos Say It All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The photos Abby took on Christmas day are printed and why did Jackson Gibbs handle the news of his son's sexuality so well?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***Part includes short story about homophobia with mentioned deaths.***

With the body down in autopsy, Tony and Ziva off following up some leads and McGee going through some records, Gibbs made his way down to Abby's lab.

As much as he wanted to, he knew that he couldn't immediately go straight to autopsy when no doubt Ducky and Jimmy would be half way through their work and they had no time for disruptions.

 

"Hey, Gibbs."

"What you got for me, Abbs?"

"Well I'm still awaiting stuff from autopsy, but I am running some samples I found inside the petty officer's car." she tapped away at her keyboard several times before continuing,

"With a bit of luck, there should be a ding any moment now. I have however got the photos from Christmas day."

She proffered the photos with a smile.

"You printed them already?"

 

Gibbs took the wallet and immediately started going through them, unable to ignore there were a lot of sneaky pictures of him and Ducky that had been taken without either of them noticing.

"Of course, you know how efficient I am. I meant to ask you, Gibbs...about the angel on the tree. Is it?"

"Kelly's? Yeah. Ducky put it on there."

"That's sweet."

His browsing stopped on a photo of him and Ducky at the moment he'd placed the bracelet on Ducky's wrist.

"You two are so perfect together, you know."

"Yeah...Yeah, I know." He smiled at her, his words confident.

"Do you think you two will get married?"

 

Much to his relief, Major Mass Pec let out a ding, which distracted her for a moment and she hurried about pressing buttons again and printing off the data sheet.

"Well, the stuff under his fingernails is definitely manure. Horse dung to be exact."

"Then turns up at Quantico?"

"Maybe there are flowerbeds near Quantico that use it as compost?"

"Good thinking, Abbs. I'll send someone onto that for ya."

"Make sure they take a sample from each flowerbed so I can cross check it."

"I'm sure hand prints in the dirt will also be a clue."

Leaving a kiss on her temple, Gibbs stopped in the doorway as she spoke again.

"True. Oh, and Gibbs. Don't think I've forgotten about wanting an answer to my question."

He smiled but still didn't answer, taking safe refuge in the lift. The thought had been weighing heavily on his mind of late. Was it too soon? Many who'd known them long enough would say that twenty years to get to know each other was definitely too long.

 

For now he'd have to push it to the back of his mind and focus on the case. Returning to the bullpen, he stopped in front of Tim's desk.

"McGee."

"Boss. I've been digging through the naval database but I'm not getting anywhere." he said, flustered, "I'm sorry, I'm trying and I'll try harder, I promise."

"Sign of weakness, Tim, and leave it for now cause I've got another job for you."

"Oh, okay."

"Go find agent Dorneget, go to Quantico and the surrounding areas and take samples from any flowerbeds you find. There was horse manure under the dead petty officer's fingernails and Abby needs samples."

"Right boss. Will do."

 

Grabbing his bag and relief evident on his face, he hot-footed it to the lift, almost crashing into Tobias Fornell as the lift door slid open.

"In a hurry, agent McGee?"

"Got horse manure to trace."

"You NCIS guys have all the fun." he said with a grin.

 

Still smiling, Tobias approached Gibbs' desk.

"Jethro!"

"Hey Tobias. What did I do wrong now?"  
With a laugh, Tobias sat down on the corner of the desk. He knew he hated him doing that so made a point of doing it whenever possible.

"Why do you assume every time I come to NCIS I'm directly coming to see you?"

"Don't see ya all that often these days, and get your butt offa my desk!"

"I stopped by your house a week ago and a few weeks before that but you were nowhere to be seen."

 

It was then that it dawned on him that Tobias still didn't know about the recent changes. He felt a little guilty having not told him since he was one of his closest friends, but then they never really made it a big habit of meeting up since they were both mostly busy.  
Grabbing the man by his arm, Gibbs lead him towards the elevator. Once it started moving, he flipped the emergency switch.

"Is there a reason you've pulled me into here? Okay, look, I did come to see you, but only after I see Director Vance. Your latest body is going to creep into FBI jurisdiction. Happy now?"

"Somewhat," Gibbs said with a coy smile, "but that's not why I dragged you here. I should have told you a while ago but...I'm in a relationship."

"Is that all? I thought it was bad news. So who's the new one? She a red-head too?"

"No, it's...not at all what you're thinking." he said, smiling as he rested his head against the metal panel behind him, staring up at the lights above them. "It's...Ducky."

 

There was a momentary silence as Tobias took in the words before letting out a small laugh, nodding his head.

"Good one, Jethro. Now seriously, what have you been up to?"

 

Reaching into his inner jacket pocket, Gibbs pulled out the photo wallet Abby had given him and flicked through the photos until he found the one Abby took of them in the kitchen that evening, handing it over.

"Is this a joke? We doing April fools early?"

Gibbs merely shook his head.

Tobias remained silent as he stared at the photo. He knew how close the two of them were over the years, but he never thought they'd take their relationship to something as serious as this.

"Well I'll be damned. How though?"

"I dunno, it just happened. I love him, Tobias. He knows me for better or worse, he's understanding, and somehow...he's helping me heal."

"He's got the patience of a damn saint, that's all I can say. He always has."

 

When Tobias' hand reached for the wallet with a brief "May I?" he handed the rest over and let him go through them.

"Jeez louise. You celebrated Christmas? Do you know how many years I had to listen to Diane bitching about how you flatly refused to be a part of it when you two were together? And yet..."

Gibbs could do nothing but smile.

"And you bought him a bracelet?"

"Cartier."

"Diane would be sick as a pig if she found out. She expected me to buy her one of them once, but those things are damn expensive."

"Yeah, I know."

 

Tobias' mind was spinning as he took in the new revelation. The old phrase 'A picture paints a thousand words' came to mind, and each photo of them together clearly showed that there was a very strong bond of love between them. In one of them, the way Ducky was looking at Gibbs was a look Tobias had seen many times before, but he'd never really taken notice of how much love was projected through eye contact alone.

"You really are serious about him, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Come on, Tobias. You think I'd buy him that if I wasn't? Hell, I couldn't even have started something with Ducky unless I knew that it was what I wanted to do...I know I can be a bastard, but I wouldn't hurt him like that."

"This is all...rather surprising...but I guess if you're both serious and happy then who am I to say you can't? Mazel tov, my friend."

Relief flowed through Gibbs' body as they shook hands and he smiled again.

"Toda raba."

"Wait, so you don't live at your house anymore?"

"I'm working on moving my stuff over to Duck's. Slow progress but...it's hard."  
"Moving on is never easy. Well, unless you've got Diane throwing your stuff at you as you leave. Right, was that all? Cause I gotta go see Vance, then I'll meet you down in autopsy for update on the body?"

"Okay then."

Tobias handed the photos back with a grin.

"Just don't be doing anything you shouldn't be when I get down there."

"Jeez, Tobias." Gibbs said, laughing as he flicked the lift switch back on.

Part of him wished he could see Diane's face when Tobias told her the news. Whilst a part of him said he should be the one to tell her, she was his ex, and it was certainly none of her business who he dated now.

 

The main bedroom was bare, and it had been for many years. He never felt right sleeping in that room since Shannon's death. Since then, it was nothing more than a storage room; a room filled with memories purely of her.

Any woman who stayed the night, whether they slept together or not had never set foot in that room. Even his following wives were told that it was a storage room, and would remain so no matter what.  
But now, everything was going to change. He was going to leave this house behind and a lot of memories inside it. Sitting down on the bed, he browsed the contents of one of the boxes.

Pulling out a photo album, he flicked through the pictures and felt memories and his emotions overwhelm him. Photos of him with Kelly, looking happy and playing together. He remembered her tears as he left that day, promising he'd be back in no time and not knowing it would be the last time he'd ever seen him again. After a few more pages he closed the album back up and put it down.

"Look at you, probie." a husky voice said.

Like a strange part of his consciousness, Mike Franks stood in the doorway.

"All those years of guilt and dead end marriages, and now this is the direction you're taking."

"Wondered when you was gonna turn up."

"I always knew there was something between you and him. From the day he was introduced as our new medical examiner, there was a spark. You shook his hand, and smiled at him. Then he told you to call him 'Ducky' and you immediately took to it, even dropping the 'y' in no time."

Gibbs smiled at the memory. Even to this day, he was the only one who was allowed to drop the 'y'.

"Weird, I never saw you two actually getting together being the end result."

"You and me both, Mike." he chucked to himself, "You and me both."

 

Reaching for an empty box, he picked it up and wrote 'PRIVATE' on every side of it with a large black sharpie pen and placed the photo albums inside it. He knew that Ducky would  
understand not to touch it.

After packing up a few boxes, the private one was put in the trunk of his car and he locked the place up. It's contents were some of the most valuable to him, so bringing this one with him first was priority.

Parking up at Ducky's, he carried the box with him. Much to his delight, Ducky was already standing at the front door. He'd obviously heard his car in the driveway.

"There you are, Jethro. I was worried you wouldn't be home in time."

"Yeah, sorry about that, Duck." he leaned down for a brief kiss, "I've been sorting out my stuff ready to be brought here."

They returned into the warmth, the smell of food filling Gibbs' senses and making his stomach growl.

" I will try to sort out some space in the attic for you for anything you'd rather store."  
Ducky's eyes fell upon the box and read the writing on it, looking Gibbs in the eyes and instantly nodding his understanding.

"Thanks, Duck."

He placed the box down out of the way for the moment and pulled out the photo wallet from his jacket.

"Abby had those photos printed off for us."

"Already? Ooh, let's see them."

 

Taking the photos, Ducky's grin grew wider and wider as he flicked from one photo to the next, of course picking out the most precious one of the two of them.

"They're wonderful. This one definitely needs framing. Maybe we should have one printed off for your father?"

"Maybe."

Ducky sensed his lover's wistful tone, reaching up to cup his face.

"Jethro? What's wrong?"

Gibbs sighed, wrapped his arms around the smaller man, pulling him close and kissing the top of his head.

"You make me so happy...Please don't ever leave me."

"No need to worry about that, my dear, I don't think I could stand losing you either."

The hug tightened for a moment before Gibbs suddenly started laughing.

"What a pair of soppy bastards we've become." he said, kissing Ducky's head again.

"True, my dear, but you're my soppy bastard."

"Love you, Duck. Always will."

"And I you. Now, I must get back to dinner. It's lamb casserole."

 

The two of them headed for the kitchen still with an arm wrapped around each other's waists where Jackson sat doing a crossword, his glasses hanging off the end of his nose and a frown of concentration as he tried to work out 9 down. Shaking his head, he let it drop, as his son entered the room.

"Hey there, Leroy. I've had a call from the Jeffersons. You know, the couple who own the small grocers?"

"Oh yeah. How they doing?"

"They're well. Their son has returned home for Iraq to celebrate New Year's. They also sent us an invite, but I imagine you'd rather be here with Donald."

He smiled at them, having noticed that their embrace hadn't broken in his presence.

"Yeah."

"Thought so, but I plan on going back home tomorrow so that I can enjoy it with them...If you don't mind."

"Of course not." Gibbs thought for a moment, "I'll see what I can do and I might be able to drive you home."

"Don't worry, Jethro, I can drive your father home."

"You sure, Duck?"

"Mr Palmer can survive one afternoon without me, I'm sure. That is if?"

With a smile, Jackson nodded.

"I'd like that, Donald, thank you."

 

The next morning as planned Ducky had made arrangements for Palmer to hold the fort whilst he took Jackson back to Stillwater.

In preparation for the busy day ahead, he cooked the three of them a mixed grill breakfast, much to everyone's approval.

"Duck, this is superb." Gibbs said with a grin and kissing Ducky's cheek, leaving a smudge of ketchup behind.

Ducky chuckled, still finishing off the last of his bacon and smiling at Jackson who suddenly burped.

"Pardon me. Donald, I can't remember the last time I had such a delicious breakfast. You didn't have to go to all this trouble."

"No trouble at all."

Gibbs, having shovelled down his breakfast already, put his plate and cutlery in the dishwasher rack and checked his watch.

"Right, I'd better get going."

As Jackson got to his feet, his son pulled him into a prolonged hug.

"Bye dad, thanks for coming. Maybe next Christmas you could come early and join us for Christmas day?"

"That would be wonderful. Thanks for having me. You remember what I said the other night about relationships and work."

"Yeah dad."

They parted and Gibbs patted him gently on the back before turning to Ducky.

"Bye Jethro. Take care, my dear."

"I always do. Let me know that you got there safely and then again when you get back here."

"I will."

Gibbs pulled Ducky close and kissed him softly before pulling him closer still and deeply taking in a breath of the man's scent.

"I'll see you tonight then, honey." the back of his hand gently stroked down the clean side of Ducky's face, "Love you."

"Love you too."

"Oh, and you might wanna wipe that ketchup off your cheek." he said over his shoulder with a laugh as he left.

"Jethro!" Ducky exclaimed, wiping at it with his hand but laughing all the same.

 

On the road back to Stillwater, the two men shared a companionable silence, and Ducky reached for the radio.

"I hope you don't mind?" he asked.

"Not at all. It's gonna be a long trip so I like a bit of music for background noise."  
Turning it on, the familiar piano symphony of Debussy's 'Claire De Lune' played.

"Is there a particular station you'd prefer?"

Whilst Ducky was asking out of politeness, he would rather have kept the station where it was, even just for the rest of the piece. It was much to his relief that Jackson had no issue with the choice in music.

"I tell you, Donald, I just don't get the music of today. More noise than it is actual music."

"Oh, don't get me started. Dear young Abigail has tried to get me to listen to what she calls her 'lab jams'. I do it merely to humor her. Jethro is the same though, although I feel he may do the same for me and my appreciation of the classics."

"It's amazing you know, the effect you have on him. He's been smiling a lot more, and they're genuinely happy smiles. He's been through so much. Losing Shannon almost killed him, and the fact he remarried several times. He wanted to find another Shannon so desperately, and he just got hurt time and time again."

"Well I'm certainly no Shannon."

"I know. Wasn't saying you was. Him being with you, it's like he's finally moving on, and I'm glad. Donald, I'm not going to be around much longer; I can feel it in my bones, but I want to know that he's happy before that time comes. I can tell he's happy with you if he was willing to properly celebrate the holidays for the first time in years."

"I can only do so much and believe me, I'm trying to do whatever I can to help and make him happy. Sometimes though, I wonder if it's enough."

"You've known him long enough to know how challenging he can be."

"I have and there have been times that he's been very trying, but more often than not, the things he does are with good intentions. And then there are the times when I see the softer and caring side of him, I see the man I love."

They returned to silence for a while, the radio playing the dramatic opening of Beethoven's 5th Symphony in C Minor. Other small things were discussed and the miles soon racked up. Traffic built up a bit in some major areas but quickly thinned out again.

By early afternoon, they made it into Stillwater.

"Park up here a second," Jackson said suddenly, "I wanna show you something."

"Oh...okay."

Pulling over near the train station, he followed where Jackson was pointing.

"See the benches just there outside the train station?"

"Yes."

"That there is where Leroy and Shannon first met. They were getting the same train out of town. He called me on the other end and told me all about her and how she was glad he wasn't a lumberjack." he laughed, "She was just as strange as he was about making rules to live by."

"He probably picked up the habit from her."

"Most likely. Anyway, I just wanted to show you."

 

They drove on, a few more minutes but again they stopped.

"That's my store just over there." he pointed to the large store on their right, "And just there, that shop with the dresses in, that's where Shannon used to work before she and Leroy got together. The amount of times I watched him stop and watch her through the window. Never actually talked to her though until that time they met at the station."

"I can imagine he was shy. Even from the photos I've seen of her with Kelly, she was truly a beautiful woman."

Again they drove on and finally parked up outside the Gibbs household; a nice, small, and bright white bungalow. Jackson's old truck sat on the driveway, looking like it hadn't been driven in a while.

"Leroy wouldn't allow me to drive it anymore. Said it was for the best. Almost ran over someone a couple of months ago, wasn't my fault though, the guy ran out without looking, but my reaction time was slower than I expected and...I decided maybe he was right."

"The time comes for us all. Jethro says once he moves in, he'll drive us both, but I like taking my Morgan for a drive, even if it is just for a drive with no real destination. Here, I'll take your cases in."

"Thanks Donald." he opened the front door and gestured inside, "Why don't cha come in for a bit? Relax for a while before you have to make the drive back."

He had time, and he did need to stretch his legs a bit since the drive had started to make his knees protest at their position they were stuck in for so long.

"Thank you, I'd be delighted to."

 

As he entered the living room, a photo on the mantelpiece caught his eye. Picking up the framed photo, he smiled. Gibbs looked so young, smiling and hugging Shannon close to him; her stomach distended. It was obviously taken around the time they were expecting Kelly.  
Reaching into his pocket, he took out the photo of him and Gibbs from Christmas day; he could easily ask Abby to print out another one.

"I do love that photo of them. He was so happy when he told me they were expecting. Then when Shannon gave birth at three in the morning, he called and told me. She was a sweet kid. Both she and her mother were." He smiled sadly, then noticed the photo in Ducky's hand.

"I...wanted to give you this."

Handing it over, he felt slightly nervous for some reason. Maybe he feared the picture wouldn't be accepted, and he certainly didn't expect it to sit upon the mantelpiece.  
Jackson looked at the photo, a smile growing on his face.

"He looks so genuinely happy. You both do. Thank you for this." he stood the photo up near the one Ducky had just been looking at. "Amelia Rowntree owns a photo printing and framing shop in town. I'm sure she'll know just the frame for it. Take a seat and I'll go get us some tea."

 

Releasing a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, he sat down onto the very soft and comfy couch where he gazed at other photos that sat on shelves. One was obviously of Kelly around 5 years or so, another was of Gibbs looking much younger and dressed in military uniform, but still with the ever present slight scowl on his face.  
As Jackson returned with tea, Ducky took his mug with a word of thanks and immediately took a tentative sip.

"I'm glad that you've taken this all so well." Ducky said with a smile, "Jethro was rather concerned that you wouldn't approve."

"But would he have broken things off with you if I didn't?"

"He said he wouldn't have, but I know it would have eaten away at him. Of course not that he would have ever admitted it."

"It's not a problem though. Everything is fine."

"If I may ask...why? You took the news far better than we were expecting."  
Placing his half empty mug down on the table beside his armchair, Jackson sighed slightly.

"Well Donald, if you have the time, I have a story to tell. I've never told Leroy or really anyone up till now."

"Please tell."

"You sure?"

Ducky nodded, happy to hear someone tell him a story for once instead of vise versa. Jackson stood and approached the liquor cabinet and removing the bottle of scotch and a tumbler.

"Hope you don't mind, but I need something a little stronger."

"No problem at all."

 

Pouring himself half a glass, he knocked it back, taking a breath.

"When I was in my early twenties, I knew a guy by the name of Harold Snickett. He was a good man, and a very good friend of mine. He was considered odd by most people, and I could sense there was something different about him. I didn't know what it was at first; I just couldn't put my finger on it. Then one day, I walked into the restroom of the factory I used to work in and...there he was in the arms of another man, kissing."

He paused, for a moment, gathering his thoughts and topping up his glass.

"Even now I can see their faces. The fear of being caught and found out. I didn't know what to make of it at first, but I knew that Harold, despite this, was still one of my best friends. I told them that I wouldn't say anything, and I kept that promise to them. Then one day, Harold turned up on my doorstep in tears. His lover had been brutally beaten and murdered. It was, of course, a homophobic attack, and they were out to kill Harold too. I let him stay at my place a few weeks to lay low, and then set about a plan to get him outta town to somewhere safe. I had sorted out a few things like transport for him and possible places to stay, but then...I came home from work and..."

Tears built up in his eyes and he sipped from his glass before wiping his eyes with his hanky.

Ducky rested his hand on Jackson's arm, knowing that this story was going to end badly.

"My front door had been smashed in, and in the bedroom he'd been staying in...the walls were covered in his blood. His body on the floor, his head barely attached to his spine. I don't know who told him where he was, but after that...Well, I knew I had to get myself outta there. I didn't want to take a chance in case they were gonna go after me next for being a sympathizer."

"That's awful...I don't know what I would do if someone...My father most certainly wouldn't have accepted my sexuality, so I never showed it. My mother on the other hand, she knew, and she didn't seem at all bothered. I imagine you walking in on Jethro and I in the kitchen brought that memory back."

"Sure did. I just hope that you two don't..." he couldn't finish his sentence.

"Things have changed. No there are still people who oppose our choice in life, but there's less chance now that either of us will be killed just because of our sexuality. You are a wonderful person, Jackson, and I'm sure Harold and his partner were grateful for your understanding and support. Just as much as Jethro and I appreciate it now."

Jackson patted Ducky on the shoulder, smiling.

"Of all the men he could have fallen for, he's chosen well. I know it's probably all too soon to say this, but I'm proud to call you my son-in-law."

"Thank you."

Without another word, the two men stood and embraced.

"Maybe sometime in the new year, Jethro and I will book a bit of holiday time and come stay here with you."

"I'd like that very much."

Ducky let out a contented sigh and looked at the clock on the mantelpiece.

"As much as I hate to say it, I think it is time for me to take my leave."

"It's been wonderful spending time with you. I really do hope we do it again soon."

"As do I."

 

Ducky retrieved his coat and hat, feeling he wanted to stay longer but knew that traffic would probably be a bit hectic if he left it too long. At the front door, they shared another but more brief hug.

"Take care of each other."

"I promise. I hope you enjoy the new year celebrations with the Pattersons, and we will both see you next year."

"Definitely. Drive safely."

 

When he arrived back home, he was surprised to see Gibbs' car already in the driveway. Opening the front door his senses were aroused by the smell of cinnamon.  
Removing his coat and hat, he smiled as arms wrapped around his waist, gently pulling him back against the body behind him. Soft lips kissed along the side of his face and stopped beside his ear.

"Hey Duck."

"Hello my dear." he turned in the arms around him, returning the embrace.

"My dad okay?"

Their lips met in a series of brief kisses.

"Very much so. I enjoyed my time with him. What's all this then?" he asked, noticing the front room was mostly dark apart from the reading lamp in the corner and the fireplace that was alight and the source of the smell.

"Just cooking us some steak."

"I must confess I'm slightly relieved you're not cooking them on the fireplace."

"No offense, Duck, but I don't like your fireplace as a cooking appliance. Put some cinnamon on the fire instead to make the place smell nice. Think I threw too much on though."

Ducky shook his head, one hand reaching into Gibbs' hair to stroke gently.

"I think it's perfect. A truly wonderful thing to come home to. Thank you, my dear sweet Jethro."

"After a long drive I didn't think you'd be up to cooking."

"You thought correctly, I was going to suggest we went out to eat, but this just fine. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Nope, I'm good. Go relax for now, honey."

Ducky sat with the tumbler of gin in his hand and smiled to himself. First being called 'honey' twice in one day and now dinner? After all these years it still surprised him to see the man that Leroy Jethro Gibbs could really be when love came into the equation.


	8. New Year = New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New year for Gibbs means even more changes.

As the new year grew closer, Gibbs now had everything from the main rooms of the house boxed up and half of it already moved to Ducky's. All he had left to worry about was the last non-private bits from the basement; the only place in the house he was going to truly miss.

This time, he allowed Ducky to come with him since he wanted to remove the last of the stuff that day. The only piece of furniture he had delivered to them was his recliner chair that he had always found too comfy to leave behind. Where it would go, he didn't know, but Ducky assured him they would find somewhere for it. The rest of it had been collected up by a local charity.

 

Ducky busied himself packing away books into one box and the few ornaments Gibbs owned into another. He heard the back door open as Gibbs returned and turned around to smile but stopped as he noticed something mud covered in his hand.

"What's that?"

"It's...something Kelly and a friend of hers buried...a long time ago."

"Have you opened it?"

Gibbs was silent, pacing slightly and in thought.

"I can't bring myself to. Thing is...now that I'm moving on from here...should I leave it buried in the back yard or...? I don't know what I want to really do."

Ducky let out a sigh and gently touched his lover's arm.

"I guess it is all still a bit too sudden...Did you want to move your things back here?"

Frowning, Gibbs shook his head.

"Duck? What are you saying?"

"If this is all going too fast then maybe-"

 

The rest of his words were cut off as Gibbs pulled him into a desperate kiss that went on for several glorious moments. A book Ducky held in his hand dropped to the floor but neither of them moved to pick it up; lost in each other.

"I have to move on sometime. I should have done years ago! If I don't do this now-"

"Then it can wait a bit longer."

"No it can't! This place may be filled with good memories but I also feel it's cursed! I want to get away from here."

This time the kiss was softer.

"I don't want us to be cursed. Besides, I've got no furniture so even if I was stupid enough to turn back on my decision, it would be a bit hard living only with the recliner chair."

"Knowing you, you'd still somehow manage. Did you want to maybe bury Kelly's time capsule in our back yard?"

"I...I don't know."

"It's all up to you in the end, my dear. I doubt Kelly would mind, whichever you choose. How many more boxes are there to put in the car?"

"Only a few more and then...that'll be it."

"I'll deal with those. You take all the time you need."

Gently Ducky squeezed Gibbs' empty hand briefly then retrieved the book from the floor and continued packing the last of the books in a box before securing the lid with packaging tape.

 

After much thought, Gibbs stepped back outside, and Ducky watched from the window as he buried Kelly's time capsule again, his hands resting on the soil for a long moment. It was if he was saying goodbye all over again.  
And so, that was it.

The house was now officially empty apart from the ghosts of time. Every room, cupboard and secret compartment had been cleared. He was finally moving on with his life. He walked around each room one last time, and then, for the first time in years, he locked the front door as he left. In the new year, the house would be put on the market.

Standing in the driveway, he looked up at the house, unsure if it was his imagination as he swore he could see Shannon smiling at him from their bedroom window. Was she happy he was leaving to move on with Ducky?

He tried best to dismiss it, getting into the car where Ducky had been patiently waiting almost half an hour for him to join him in the car.

"I'm sorry I took so long, Duck."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, my dear."

Ducky's hand rested upon his own, squeezing gently.

"Let's go home, Duck."

 

Returning back to their home, they carried the boxes into an empty space that had been allocated in the hallway and then Ducky set about dinner. Always prepared, Ducky had all he needed to whip up a fish pie in less than an hour.

As they sat eating, both were silent with their own thoughts. Gibbs pondered over the time capsule again, shaking his head and knowing that it was buried there for a reason. It was left for someone else to find. Maybe the future owners will have kids who will find it and enjoy the contents. He already had enough things that reminded him of his wife and daughter.

Ducky meanwhile pondered over something he wanted to ask. It wasn't a massive deal really, but knowing what his lover was like about parties, he wouldn't have been surprised if he said no.

'Don't ask and you won't get.' he thought to himself.

"Jethro, you know it's the work's New Years eve party tomorrow?"

"Yep."

In an instant, Gibbs knew where the conversation was heading, and inside he smiled.

"Were you thinking of going?"

"Do you want to?"

"Well I do often pop in for a few hours...Never saw you there but tI assume you didn't attend at all?"

"You are absolutely correct, apart from times when we've still been on a case." Gibbs put his fork down for a moment and thought,

"Look, if there's no work to be done, I guess we can stay for a few hours."

"That'd be quite wonderful. Thank you, Jethro."

 

Lady luck smiled down on Ducky, and with their latest case now wrapped up, the whole squad room was decked out with party decorations. Gibbs didn't approve of the squad room being used for the party that year, but the conference rooms were apparently in use and despite the size of the building, their floor was the only one empty. He believed this to be a lie and most likely someone's plan to get him to join in the celebration whether he planned to or not. For Ducky however, he was willing to put up with it.  
As at any sort of occasion, Ducky was happily chatting away to a small group of people, deep in conversation about one of his most strangest cases back in the early days when he was first assigned to Gibbs' team.

Gibbs himself meanwhile just stood by the windows, watching as people were already setting off fireworks in the distance. Hand in his pocket, he held a small square box tightly in his palm.

It was a bit cliché, he knew, but it felt right. He had thought about it a lot over the past few weeks, and was now certain that what he was going to do tonight was the right thing and he was surprisingly fine with the idea of everyone witnessing what he was about to do.

 

"Wow. Didn't expect to see Gibbs at one of these things." Tony said reaching for his second glass of champagne.

"Most likely for Ducky's sake." Ziva replied matter of factly, "and I highly approve that he was willing to do it."

Tim returned from the buffet with a paper plate covered in snack items, placing them down on Tony's desk for them to share and joining in the conversation.

" Have you noticed Gibbs has been a bit...distracted lately?"

Tony instantly made a grab for the cocktail weenies, talking despite stuffing two in his mouth.

"He's dating the Duck man, of course he's distracted. I'm pretty sure every time he says he has to go do something he goes down to autopsy," he swallowed his food when Ziva tutted at him, "and with Jimmy on holiday it's not like they're easily going to get disturbed. Not to mention he's damn soppy of late. Did you see the pictures of those two Abby took on Christmas Day?"  
They suddenly went silent as Gibbs approached them, putting his arm around Tim's shoulders and guiding him away.

"Tim, I need a word with you. It's a bit last minute but I need your help."

"Sure boss, what can I do?"

 

The rest of the conversation was drowned out by the noise, and Tony let out a small whine of disappointment.  
Half hour before new year's arrival the music suddenly stopped. Some people let out cries of protest, and others just looked plain confused.

"Sorry to ruin the jig you had going on there, Leon," Gibbs said loudly from the staircase, making everyone turn in his direction. "But I have a very important piece of business to attend to."

On cue, Tim changed the song to, of all the soppiest songs in the world, Unchained Melody. Voices started talking in hushed whispers.

Whoa  
My love  
My darlin'

"Doctor Mallard, can you join me up here?"

I've hungered for  
Your touch  
Alone  
Lonely time

For a moment, Ducky couldn't move. Surely Gibbs wasn't doing what he thought he was doing? Finally his legs went into motion and he approached with the rest of the room on his heels. He knew that gradually word had spread to the rest of the building about their relationship, which was met with mostly positive results. If there was anyone who didn't know by now, they were in for the shock of their life.

And time goes by  
So slowly  
And time  
Can do so much  
Are you  
Still mine?

Taking his lover's hands, Gibbs dropped to one knee. Ducky felt his breath catch in his throat.

"Jethro?"

"Duck, you know my history with marriage has been a bit of a disaster over the years. Heck, you've stood next to me at two of them as my best man."

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the small square box with the ring inside. For a moment he fumbled and almost dropped it as he tried to open it one handed. Having succeeded, he presented it to Ducky.

"This time though, I want it to be the final time I have to make that trip up the aisle, and again with you by my side, but this time...as my husband."

There were collective gasps in the crowd, and a light squeal noise that was distinctly Abby's. One or two people tutted and walked away, glaring in disapproval.

"Oh Jethro."

I need your love  
I need your love  
God- speed your love  
To me.

"So what do you say, Duck? Will you marry me?"

Ducky wiped at the tears, but fresh ones were quick to replace them. Smiling brightly, he nodded and summoned up enough of a voice to reply.

"Yes, Jethro, I would be delighted to."

Gibbs let out a sigh of relief, reaching out to place the gold band on his now fiancé's finger. Rising back to his feet, he pulled Ducky into his arms and they kissed briefly.

Whoa  
My love  
My darlin'  
I've hungered, HUNGERED for  
Your touch  
Alone  
Lonely time

The room erupted into rapturous applause and cheering.. No one could hear one woman yell as she headed to the elevator with her jacket that they were going to hell for their sin, and even if they did, they probably wouldn't have cared.

 

As they descended the stairs again, hand in hand, Abby was the first to come over and congratulate them, still making small joyful noises as she pulled them both into a hug.

"Oh my god, you guys! I can't believe it!" her voice getting high and higher as she spoke, "I'm so happy for you."

Ziva and Tony were quick to join in congratulating them, followed by Tim who'd changed the music back to the previous playlist for the rest of the room.

"Thanks for that, Tim."

"No problem. I'm really happy for you both."

Many other people crowded around them, all shaking hands and congratulating them, many of them still rather in shock at what they'd just witnessed. Eventually the crowd around them died out again, and Gibbs guided Ducky over to his desk and grabbed a spare chair and sat them down.

Ziva passed over a tissue box as Ducky's tears continued to flow.

"Duck, you okay?"

"More than okay. Jethro, you have no idea how happy you've made me."

Ducky wiped his eyes and blew his nose, still overcome by emotion. Fortunately, the team left them alone, even though every now and then Gibbs caught Abby looking over, still bouncing on the balls of her feet with happiness.

 

"Can you guys believe it?" she practically squeaked. "Gibbs and Ducky getting married. It's just so wonderful."

"Jimmy's gonna freak when he hears this." Tim said with a laugh, " I know he was concerned that Gibbs would break Ducky's heart, but I really think that this is going to last."

Everyone nodded and Tony let out his own laugh.

"To think we thought wife number four would be either agent Borin or Lieutenant Mann. Our universe truly works in mysterious ways."

Again they briefly caught a glimpse at the happy couple.

 

Ignoring anyone who looked at them, Gibbs again pulled Ducky into a hug, kissing the top of his head.

"I apologize, Jethro. I don't know what's come over me."

"It's alright. Guess you never expect this."

"There was no doubt in my mind that your feelings for me were true, my dear, but to get married...Mother would have been so happy."

"Words cannot describe how happy I am that you said yes."

As Ducky admired the ring again, he noticed the small heart shape that was engraved on it, bringing forth another bought of happy tears.

 

Gradually, Ducky calmed and soon enough, the music was turned off again and many moved up to the roof as they prepared to count in the new year.

"You two coming?" Abby asked, still bouncing slightly like an excited puppy, "We always get such a great view from the roof."

"Duck?"

"I don't see why not."

Despite the lack of wind, the air was chilly, and Ducky let out a small shudder as they stepped out. Noticing, Gibbs immediately pulled him close, holding his hands in his own.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" everyone shouted, and instantly people in the neighbourhoods around them set off their fireworks.

 

The sky lit up and the bangs of the fireworks echoed around the area. Gibbs wrapped his arms around Ducky, staring down into his eyes and seeing the love brightly reflected in them. Softly, he kissed him again and they stood forehead to forehead, ignoring everyone else around them.

"Happy new year, Duck."

"Happy new year, my dear wonderful Jethro."

For a few moments longer, they stood and watched the fireworks together, still holding onto each other.

"What a way to start the year." Gibbs said with a happy sigh, "It couldn't be any better than this."

"Agreed. Did you wish to go home soon?"

"Can do, but if you'd rather stay a bit longer that's alright."

"Do you really want to?"

Ducky raised an eye brow, smiling.

"No." he admitted with a small laugh.

"Then, my dearest, we shall take our leave."

Returning back to the squad room, Gibbs collected up his things and they both gradually said their goodbyes.

 

Throughout the journey home, Ducky wouldn't stop staring at the ring on his finger, smiling as the streetlights they passed illuminated it.

Gibbs couldn't help but notice Ducky's glee in the corner of his eye and smiled to himself. It seemed almost yesterday that Gibbs gave in to the urge to kiss Ducky for the first time. He couldn't explain why this attraction had form into what it's become.

When Ducky had agreed to allow that first kiss, it was like electricity had shot through the both of them, and the reaction was immediate. It was then Ducky confessed that his feelings towards him had been much more than he knew for a few years. Despite this, he did give Gibbs a chance to bail before their relationship got too deep, but it just felt like the right direction for them to go.

 

As they entered home, Gibbs locked the front door and was surprised as Ducky immediately pounced on him, standing on tip-toes to reach his lips and kiss him hard.

"Whoa, Duck, slow down."

"I can't. You have made me such a happy man."

"At least let me get my jacket off."

Ducky ceased only for a few moments before latching onto him again, kissing anywhere he could reach, making Gibbs laugh.

"C'mon Duck, to the bedroom."

 

Reaching the bedroom, they quickly lost their clothes, turned down the duvet, and landed together on the bed. Gibbs could do little but lay back and let his now fiancé, kiss everywhere his lips came onto contact with. Each kiss on him make his cock twitch, very much interested in the sudden turn of events.

Ducky didn't stop, gentle hands running down his sides, caressing the skin of his hips as his lips reached their main destination.

There were no words, only Gibbs taking a deep shuddering breath as his cock was engulfed into warm, wet heat. He loved it when Ducky did this. The man was very well knowledged in what made Gibbs become a mass of rambling goo under his administrations.  
From gently swiping his tongue into the slit of the head to gently letting his teeth run along the throbbing vein on the side. Every lick and swallow was pushing him nearer and nearer to climax.

"Duck! Slow down."

"Sorry my dear, I got a bit carried away."

"I noticed. Now what can I do for you?"

Ducky never asked Gibbs to return the act, knowing he didn't like to do it. Yet then he'd never asked for permission to take him the way he did on Christmas day. What if?

Kissing his younger fiancé softly, he took a breath and bit the bullet.

"Jethro, you don't have to do this, but...I want your lips around me."

"Around you? Around wh-... Oh"

"As I previously stated, you don't have to."

"Can't promise I'll be as good as you...or any good for that matter."

 

Despite his words, Gibbs kissed his lips again briefly then started to slide further down the bed. He'd held Ducky's penis in his hands many times, but never at such close range. There was nothing that he didn't have, and he remembered how it felt the first time he allowed Ducky to enter him. Now it was going to again, but not the same place.

He started off by simply repeating the motions he did when he would jerk him off, getting used to watching it up close as it reacted to his touch. Above him, he could hear Ducky's breathing change, and when he looked up, he saw Ducky watching through half lidded eyes.

With a grin, he pulled back the foreskin, running his thumb around the head then licked the thumb. The moan it earned him increased his confidence, and his thumb was replaced with his tongue, probing it into the slit of the head.

"Jethro. Oh my dearest Jethro, that feels wonderful."

Slowly, Gibbs worked on taking Ducky further into his mouth, having a moment of panic as his teeth grazed the sensitive skin and made the man hiss. He couldn't take the whole of him right now, that much he knew, but he managed well enough for his first time. Looking to the side when he heard a scratch noise, he saw how Ducky's fingers were digging into the bed sheets underneath them.

"Please, Jethro, don't stop."

Ducky panted as his cock was engulfed into the warm and slippery heat again and again. For a first try, his lover was clearly willing, and it hadn't taken him long to make Ducky writhe around, moaning every so often.

"I warn you now, I'm getting very close."

 

It was then Gibbs pulled away, and Ducky groaned at the loss, watching the other man reach into the drawer for the ever present lubricant. It didn't take long to prepare Ducky, and soon enough Gibbs was inside him, thrusting slowly to make the experience last.

"Faster. Please Jethro. Go faster!"

"I don't wanna hurt you."

It was a phrase Gibbs said often, despite having been reassured so many times that it was okay. This time was no different, and gradually he upped the pace leaning down to kiss Ducky all whilst thrusting and wrapping one hand around Ducky's weeping erection.  
It wasn't the wisest of ideas to put all his balance on one arm, but the multiple stimulation caused Ducky to convulse strongly, his eyes rolling back in his head and pulling his lips away to let out a deep and long guttural moan. His cock twitched violently, shooting out streams of pleasure over and over.

The tightness around Gibbs' cock was too much and he soon was also letting out a groan and spilling himself inside his fiancé.

"Duck, you okay?" Gibbs asked, panicking for a moment.

"I do believe so my dear. Although if I were to have died from that onslaught of pleasure, one could say I died happy."

"Don't think I'd want you to have that carved on your tombstone, Duck."

"It would raise a few eyebrows would it not? However it's been estimated that under one percent of sudden deaths have occurred during consensual sex."

With a smile at Ducky's ability to still talk facts during the post coital haze, Gibbs lay down beside him and pulled the duvet up over them both. Ducky murmured a bit, eyes heavy and he snuggled up to Gibbs who wrapped his arms around him.

"Night Duck. I love you."


	9. I Hear Wedding Bells Approaching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even though work is all go, there's already questions about the big day.

As the first morning light peeked through a gap in the curtains, Gibbs turned his head away from it, cracking his eyes open to find a pair of ocean blue eyes looking back at him.

"Good morning Jethro."

"Morning. How long have you been awake?"

"Oh, about half hour or so. I was just enjoying watching you sleep."

Gibbs gave a huffed out laugh, reaching a hand out to stroke Ducky's hair then down his cheek.

"Well that's not the least bit creepy."

"Like you've never watched me sleep?"

"Yeah," his hand trailed it's way under the quilt along the contour of Ducky's arm and side, "but I don't tell you about it."

"It wouldn't bother me if you did, my dear."

Ducky let out a small chuckle as he felt the wandering hand rest on his buttock.

"So, Duck, we haven't been called into work yet and with a bit of luck, we won't be for the day. What would you like to do instead?"

"How does a fry up sound to you?"

"That" he kissed Ducky gently on the lips, "is an idea" kissed again, "I highly approve of."

"Good. First though, I really must shower." Carefully, he got to his feet and stopped in the doorway, "Do you wish to join me?"

"I would, but I've got to make a few calls."

"Very well, I shall be back soon."

 

Gibbs couldn't help but notice the twinge of pain flash across Ducky's face as he moved.

"Duck, you alright? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, my dear, I'm fine, I promise you. It's my leg that's bothering me because it got a bit cramped."

"You're sure?"

"Of course."

Ducky put on what he hoped was a convincing smile and was relieved when he received a smile back.

"Anyway, the hot water should help soothe. I shall be back soon, my dear."

 

Closing the bathroom door, Ducky sighed. He wasn't completely lying as his leg was somewhat cramped, but their love making the night before had definitely given him slight tenderness. Looking at the ring glinting on his finger made him not regret it for a moment. This year was going to be the best year ever.

Now alone, Gibbs reached for his mobile and let himself flop back against the bed, feeling relaxed and so very happy. He didn't believe Ducky's reason for his clearly pained expression, but wasn't going to call him out on it. He did however know that their lovemaking would have to be more gentle for a while.

Scrolling through his phone, Tobias was the first he thought of. After all, he had to ask a favor of him.  
The phone rang for several tones and just as he was about to give in, a gruff and tired sounding voiced Tobias answered.

"What do you want, Gibbs?"

"Hey Tobias. You're sounding as chirpy as ever. Hangover?"

"Yeah, a bit." he let out a small groan as his head pounded out a beat like someone playing bongos on his brain.

"Sounds like more than a bit."

"Yeah, yeah." he muttered, looking at his bedside clock and groan again to see it was barely 7:30, "Why are you calling this early in the morning? And on new year's day for crying out loud."

"You're not a morning person are you?"

"Diane said the same about you. So?"

"Sooooooo, I wanted you to know that Ducky and I are engaged."

"I need coffee before I can deal with your jokes."

"No, I'm not kidding, we genuinely are."

There was a momentary silence.

"Really?"

"Uh-huh."

"Who proposed?"

"Me."

"Really? After all those times you said you'd never marry again?"

"Yeah, I know, but this is it. I'm marrying Ducky because I want to...not because I want another Shannon."

"You know I've never heard you openly admit that. I'm happy for you, Jethro, I really am. Just don't screw this up."

"I don't plan to, but I do plan to ask you to be my best man."

"Really? Me?"

"Well Ducky can't exactly do it, can he?"

Tobias laughed, causing his head to let out another thuding ache.

"I guess not, but I'd be honoured though."

"Great. Well when we start making arrangements about the wedding I'll let you know. Anyway, that's all I called up for, so I'll let you get back to your hangover. Have a nice cup of coffee. That'll help."

"Yeah, thanks. I'd rather have something more filling than that."

"Well, Ducky's gonna cook me a nice fry up."

Tobias' stomach rumbled at the thought and he let out another groan of irritation.

"You're a cruel bastard sometimes, Gibbs, you know that?"

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, that's really all I called for."

"Fine. Congratulations again. Now go on, go have your fry up and let me go back to sleep."

"As you wish."

 

Hanging up, he smiled to himself. From where he sat he could hear the shower running from the bathroom across the hall meaning he still had time to make one other important call.

"Hey Dad. Happy new year. "

"Happy new year, son. So how has things been?"

"They're good, yeah."

"And how's Donald?"

"He's doing fine. In fact we're engaged."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"That's wonderful news. Got a date for the wedding?"

"Well no, having only just asked him last night. We'll work it out and obviously we want you to be there."

"Just let me know the details when you have them and I'll be there."

"Thanks dad. Guess you're gonna go open the store now?"

"Of course. Maybe you and Donald could come down here and help out for a few days."

"Sure, I'll see what I can do. Love you."

"Love you too, son. You two take care of each other."

"Will do."

 

Closing his phone he smiled to himself. Now that two of the most important people knew about the wedding, he was relieved.  
No doubt anyone who didn't attend the party last night was already aware of what happened knowing what a hen house the place could be. Before he would have been very private about everything in his life, but he found he didn't care who knew about his relationship with Ducky, whether they agreed with it or not.

 

The bathroom door opened and Ducky re-appeared, hair still damp and only dressed in a towel slung around his waist.

"I forgot my bath robe," he said in explanation as he started to dig through his wardrobe, one hand still holding the towel in place, "I'd forgotten my usual one was in the wash. Still, maybe I should just get dressed."

"C'mon, Duck, what's the problem? No one else gonna see you except me. I just rung Tobias and my dad to tell them the news. They're both really excited."

"That's good. Am I to assume Tobias will be taking my role of best man?"

"How'd you guess? But if there was someone else you wanted to ask then-"

Ducky chuckled, picking out a smart blue shirt that he knew Gibbs loved and placed it down on the bed to find trousers.

"Of course not, my dear, in fact I do believe he's the perfect choice."

 

Gibbs moved to sit at the end of the bed where Ducky stood and in one swift tug he had Ducky's towel off, making him fall none too gracefully back onto the mattress. Then in the next movement he was astride the surprised man, letting his eyes wander up and down his body with a predatory smile.

"Jethro, what on Earth?"

His words were cut off by a desperate kiss.

"Your body is so beautiful." he caught Ducky's hands as he instinctively started to move his arms to cover himself, "Don't keep doing that. I mean it, Duck, you are. You may not understand it and hell, even I struggle to explain it, but you turn me on. You don't have to feel self conscious around me."

"I'll never understand how. It's not like I-"

"Stop comparing yourself to something I'm no longer looking for."

"If you didn't know me, is that what you would be looking for?"

"Probably. I'd just continue having multiple flings, but never be truly happy. Luck smiled on me after I lost the girls and I got you, and now you're all I need. I mean it."

 

Unable to form words, Ducky raised his head up, lips pouting for another kiss that his fiancé of course obliged. Wrapping his arms around the man straddling him, he pulled him down so that their bodies touched.

"Do you still want that fry up?"

"Well Duck, we are both still naked right now."

"And I've only just showered."

"I know, but I missed joining you." his hand wrapped around both their cocks that were slowly hardening together, "Maybe we need an excuse for you to shower again?"

Ducky rolled his eyes but smiled. How did two men who would be considered by many as past their prime end up behaving like two horny teenagers?

 

The following day, they returned to work and were greeted by several work colleagues who weren't in attendance at the new year's party, but as Gibbs had expected, word had spread of their engagement.  
Much to their relief, every one of them were delighted with the news and there were handshakes all round. Only as Gibbs got in the lift up to the squad room did he receive a dirty look from a woman in the legal section, but she didn't dare say anything or keep eye contact with him for more than a few seconds.

 

Bounding into the squad room with great enthusiasm, Jimmy Palmer smiled from ear-to-ear as he greeted his co-workers.

"Guys!"

"Ah, the autopsy gremlin returns!" Tony yelled, patting Jimmy on the shoulder.

"Hey Tony."

"Welcome back, Jimmy." Ziva said looking up from her paperwork with a smile, "How was your new years with Breena?"

"Oh it was fantastic. She has the nicest parents, she really does. Okay, her father is a liiiiittle bit protective, but I think given time we'll become great friends. So, did I miss much here?"

"Maybe." Tony said with a sly grin.

"What? "Jimmy looked between the three of them, his curiosity growing rapidly as they merely smiled, "Come on! What happened?"

Tony checked to see if Gibbs was around before smiling again.

"Gibbs and the Duck man." he joined the tips of his fore-fingers together, "Officially engaged."

"What?" Jimmy gawped, "So who-who proposed?"

"Gibbs did." Tim replied, "With the romantic music and most of NCIS witnessing it. Had me put on a Righteous Brothers song for the occasion."

"I never thought Agent Gibbs would do that." He let out a groan of irritation, "That's typical, the one time I'm not here and something like that happens."

 

Tim stood and quickly moved to Tony's desk, pushing Tony himself away from it and ignoring the man's protests.

"Well maybe, this would be enough."

With the tap of a few keys, the plasma screen came to life.

"McGeek," Tony laughed, "you sly dog. You recorded it through my webcam?"

 

They all stood and watched. Despite a few heads popping into view on the lower half of the screen, the angle was just right to catch  
the moment. The music took up most of the volume, but the physical interaction between the two men said enough.

The lift bell 'ding'ed but none of them noticed as they continued to watch, completely absorbed in the moment.

"View was even better from where I was standing." Gibbs said from behind them and making all 4 of them jump; much to his satisfaction.

"Boss!" Tim looked like a deer caught in car headlights, "I er- You see."

"Yeah, I see, Tim." he continued staring at the screen as he walked to his desk, "Betcha Ducky will want a copy of that."

"Er, of course, I'll burn a copy to DVD, boss."

"Good." he turned towards Ducky's assistant, waiting for the stammering to begin, "Hey Palmer. Nice holiday?"

"Special agent Gibbs, I-I- yes, it was wonderful." he held his hand out, "Congratulations on the engagement, sir."

 

Gibbs couldn't help but smile at the young man's constant nervousness around him as he returned the handshake. It wasn't that he did it deliberately or anything, and there had been moments when he seemed to overcome his fear so why he just as quickly returned to fearing him, he had no idea.

"Anyway, I'd best go down to see doctor Mallard. I'm sure he'll be wanting to show me the ring."

Within moments, Jimmy had left, and his team returned to their desks, all three of them looking between each other, surprised that their boss took the whole secret webcam thing well.

 

As Jimmy entered autopsy, he immediately noticed Ducky sat at his desk humming to himself, which he always does when he is at his most happiest.

"Doctor Mallard."

"Ah, Jimmy, my boy." he stood and pulled the younger man into a hug, "How was your new year?"

"Was wonderful. Breena and I had such a wonderful time together. I met the in-laws, which went well, and we had a lot of fun."

Ducky was practically glowing with joy, and Jimmy could see that he was bursting to tell him the good news.

"So, how was your new year?"

With a proud chuckle, Ducky held his hand out. The gold band shining in the light.

" How wonderful. Any idea when the big day will be?"

"No, but I'm not worrying too much about it at the moment. I wish you could have been there to see it. I never thought he would do something like that, especially not in front of such a large crowd of our work colleagues."

The phone rang, and Ducky answered it.

"Yes, agent McGee, we'll be on our way."

 

The peace never did last long as they were all once again called out to their first crime scene of the year.

A crime scene featuring the rather gruesome deaths of two petty officers was not how the team wished to start January, but then such was life as an NCIS agent.

Two autopsied bodies later and Gibbs found himself in Abby's lab with news of the bullets used and other DNA results from the crime scene.  
As bouncy as ever, and with a twinkle in her eye, she gave him the rundown of her current findings.

"Okay, so both bullets are definitely from the same gun, and from what Ducky said, they were fired at close range. And I mean really close, Gibbs. In fact at first I thought that there were three bullets, but turns out the assailant shot at such a close range that one bullet went through the first guy and into the second! THAT is a close shot."

"They possibly knew their attacker?"

"Maybe. I've just got to narrow down the make and model of gun. So, what's going to be your wedding speech?" she asked, putting the straw of the caf-pow to her lips.

"How did we suddenly change subjects?"

She smiled and put on her best apologetic face.

"Sorry, I just couldn't help myself. Sooooo?"

Gibbs couldn't help but smile at her forwardness.

"I don't know, Abs. I'm not thinking about it right now. I don't do big speeches. The speech when I proposed is probably the best you're gonna get out of me."

"Oh, Gibbs, come on! You know that you have the words within you to speak to Ducky on the big day. You just need to think of how to say them. And then there's all the planning, venue, outfits, the whole works to deal with."

"I will, alright? Just focus on the case and find me that gun type asap."

"Will do." she saluted him and got back to furiously typing.

 

Within the hour, Abby had the gun type narrowed down, and finger prints lead to a female petty officer being brought in for interrogation.

"Boss, pleeeeeeease can I do the interrogation on this one?"

Gibbs looked up from his desk at Tony, eyebrow raised.

"Just how pretty is the petty officer, DiNozzo?"

"Very pretty." Ziva said with a smirk, neatly putting her now completed paperwork in a neat pile, "And she didn't take any notice of him when she was first brought up here. She seemed more interested in McGee."

Tony let out an indignant splutter.

"Yes, thank you, Ziva. Anyway, what do you say, boss?"

Gibbs merely shrugged and returned to his work.

"Sure, whatever. Just get whatever you can out of her."

 

Much to Gibbs' irritation, he didn't get home until late. This was something that used to never bother him since he didn't have anything besides a boat to return home to. Now however he found that he wanted to be home at a reasonable time every night if possible.

As he'd parked up he noticed all the lights were off apart from the dim light coming from the bedroom. Closing the front door and securely locking it, he removed his coat and shoes, did one last check to make sure all doors and windows were locked then headed upstairs.

After a brief stop in the bathroom to freshen up and clean his teeth, he headed to the bedroom where he found Ducky sat up reading a book.

"Hey Duck. Didn't know if you'd still be awake."

"I was tired, but then I got a bit engrossed in my book." he flashed the cover to Gibbs briefly.

"Phantom of the opera?"

"Yes, it was a book before it was a Broadway show of course. Although its original title was 'Le Fantôme de l'Opéra', and was printed as a serial from late nineteen-oh-nine to ninteen-ten where it was then published as a full book."

Gibbs made a noise to show he was listening as he went about stripping himself down to his boxers and replaced his shirt with a simple grey tee that he always wore at night. He felt weary as Ducky continued.

"In fact its first adaptation was a short movie in nineteen-twenty-five. They say the scene when the phantom was unmasked made some movie goers scream in terror or faint at the sight of him! Mother apparently had quite a crush on him for a number of years, and was truly heartbroken when he passed away in-"

Coming out of his reverie, he noticed his partner's tired and slightly frustrated expression.

"Jethro, are you alright, my dear?"

"Yeah, Duck, I'm fine. Sorry, you were saying about your mom?"

"It's not important. I'm afraid I went off on one of my ramblings, but clearly see something is troubling you."

"It's just the whole wedding planning thing." he laid back against his pillows, relieved at least to now be in a warm and comfortable bed,

"All the times before the wives always handled everything, but this time...I don't know how the whole thing works. I mean, is it the same as straight weddings or what?"

Ducky placed his book and glasses on the bedside table and turned off the lamp before turning over into Gibbs' arms. He rested his head in the crook of the man's neck and smiled as the strong arms wrapped around him, a position they often enjoyed going to sleep in.

"My dear, I'm sure that if we asked Abigail she would be more than happy to handle things."

"Be surprised if she wasn't, but...I want this to be perfect."

"So long as we're both there and end the day together then that's all that matters."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"We can talk more in the morning about it. For now, let's sleep."

Their lips met in a soft, chaste kiss, and moments later, Gibbs was fast asleep.

 

Arriving back at work the next morning, Gibbs was surprised to hear that Tony had pulled an all-nighter in his absence. Instead of a head-slap, Tony received a rare pat on the back and a whispered 'thanks' that left him beaming with smug pride.

Approaching McGee's desk, he saw the man panic for a moment before holding up a DVD in a plastic slip case.

"Boss, I've burned a DVD copy of the engagement for you."

"Thanks Tim." he rewarded the younger agent with a fairly light head-slap, "You should have told me you were going to record it."

 

Leaving the squad room with the DVD in his jacket pocket, he decided his first stop would be the lab. As always, he was greeted by her loud music that he had to shout over to get her attention.

"Abs, need a word."

"Sure, what's wrong?"

"Well, firstly, Ducky and I want you to be our maid of honour."

"Oh my god, yes! I accept!"

She jumped up and down a little on the balls of her feet.

"And secondly, we might need some help with planning."

"I'll gladly help any way I can, you know me."

"Good, because I don't have a clue what I'm doing."

"I can show you."

"No. I just...I know that if you deal with it, it'll all run fine. Just you and Ducky deal with the planning, okay?"

Her smile dropped.

"But wait, Gibbs...don't you want to make any decisions?"

"Not really. I just want to walk away at the end of the day with a happy Ducky. I know you'll do all you can to make it as perfect as possible."

"But Gibbs, I've never technically actually planned a wedding before? I mean, alright so I planned Jimmy's stag do, but not the actual ceremony itself."

"Talk to Ducky. Ask him what he wants. I'm not going to say no. I've been through this four times already."

"Don't you want another wedding?"

"Of course I do, Abs, but...this is Ducky's first and with a bit of luck, his only wedding. I want him to remember it and to make him happy. I'll just be happy with us being together; that's all I really need."

"Okay. I'll do my best."

"Your best is always just enough." he kissed her cheek, "Now about the petty officer's alibi?"

 

In autopsy, Ducky sat at his desk whilst Jimmy dug through their supplies, checking what they still had and what needed ordering.

"We're down to our last box of disposable gloves, Doctor."

"I'll add it to the list."

As Jimmy looked up, he saw Ducky busy staring at his ring, smiling to himself.

"Doctor Mallard, may I ask you something?" he asked, sitting himself down on a stool.

"Of course."

"What is..."

Jimmy faltered, looking away. He could just pass it off as nothing important and return to work, but his mind was asking many questions since he watched the engagement video.

"What is what, Mr Palmer?"

"Gibbs. I mean, we've all only been on the stern and somewhat scary end of him at work here. How different is he, you know, at home? I really don't mean to pry, but...when it first came out about you two, I never thought that you'd be taking your relationship this far."

"He is pretty much everything you see here at work, but there's still that softer side thrown in. If only you'd been here to see him propose to me, and in front of so many people." He smiled at the memory, "I do hope that you and the lovely Breena shall be attending the wedding?"

"Oh...of course."

Ducky sighed.

"Is something wrong?"

"I just...Look, Doctor, I care for you so very much. You've been a great mentor and like a family member to me. I just don't want to see agent Gibbs hurt you."

"Ah Jimmy, I understand your concern given his history, but I very much doubt he will."

"How can you be sure?"

Ducky thought for a moment. He didn't want to make Gibbs sound like an absolute pussycat because he wasn't. Not always at least.  
In the throes of passion, Gibbs could be made to purr if he caressed just the right spots on his body, like the small of his back and along the jaw line. It was something that Ducky just loved hearing, and he wasn't even sure Gibbs was aware that he did it.

"Doctor?"

"It's in his eyes, the way he says his endearments to me, the way he physically shows me affection. On the big day, you'll see it for yourself. I appreciate that you worry for me, Jimmy, but I can assure you that this is right."

 

It came as no real surprise that when the doors slid open, Gibbs was the one who entered. Anyone would think that he had a 6th sense that meant he always knew when Ducky was talking about him or wanted to see him.

"Jethro."

"Hey Duck." he removed the DVD from his pocket, "Turns out that McGee recorded our engagement on DiNozzo's webcam, "So I had im put it on DVD."

"Oh how wonderful. I must thank Timothy later. I do hope however that you didn't give him a hard time for recording without your knowledge."

"Nah, I gave him a light head-slap, but nothing more."

"Jethro!" he scolded softly.

"I said it was light."

Ducky smiled and looked away momentarily. It was only then he realized that Jimmy had gone into the back store room; obviously trying to give them privacy. Not that Ducky felt it was really necessary given how everyone now knew.

"He's still jittery around you, Jethro."

"Hmm, I noticed. Come 'ere."

 

Despite the security camera and the possibility Jimmy would see, he wrapped his arm around the smaller man and kissed him softly.

"Now, was there anything else you came to see me about?"

"Not really. I'd better get back upstairs. Let you and Palmer finish your work."

He kissed him again, savouring it. When they pulled apart, Ducky felt like his lips were tingling.

"Love you, Duck." he whispered, gently stroking Ducky's hair before turning and leaving.

Ducky smiled to himself as he watched Gibbs leave again, and without even turning around, he spoke.

"Mr Palmer, when you've quite finished peeking through the gap in the door can we please get back to filling in the last of this stock check."

"Yes, Doctor."


	10. Chills

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gibbs finds himself frustrated when faced with a cold case and an even colder ex.

FIC SERIES: The Duck In Gibbs' Pond  
TITLE: Chills  
PAIRING: Leroy Jethro Gibbs/Donald 'Ducky' Mallard  
GENRE: Slash  
RATING: NC17 (Overall)  
WARNINGS: Brief moment of homophobia but balanced out with large amounts of fluff.  
WORD COUNT: 3976

 

As the weeks quickly passed, new cases came and went, and much to Gibbs' relief, the Christmas tree was finally thrown out. Whilst he could say having a proper tree was nice for a change, walking barefoot onto a stray pine needle was not appreciated and much swearing ensued.

The decorations were then returned to the loft and he felt himself well up slightly again as he carefully returned Kelly's angel to its box for the following Christmas.

But as always, just as one case was wrapped up, another was opened. This time though, it was a cold case Director Vance decided to dump on them.

 

Looking at the open file before him on his desk, Gibbs growled to himself. There was barely anything to go on and the new evidence brought to light didn't exactly help move things along.

He looked at his watch and noticed it was almost time for him to meet Ducky for their lunch break. A part of him hoped talking with Ducky might give him some ideas or clues as to where to go with the case.

Stepping outside into the fresh air, the winter chill had now warmed up a bit and the sun was shining brightly.

 

"Well hello there, Jethro."

Turning around at the sound of the voice, he stared at the woman before him. Her shoulder length blonde hair shining in the sunlight and two cups of coffee in her gloved hands. Wrapped up in a thick brown winter jacket, she approached him and kissed his cheek.

"Hollis." was all he could say.

Just when he thought his day could get any worse.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was in the area and since I still have permission to visit NCIS every now and then, I thought I'd come see you. I did try to stop by your house, but you surprised me and had your front door locked."

She handed over his coffee and motioned for them to sit down on the nearest bench.

"You look surprised to see me."

"Well yeah, you moved to Hawaii. How's things?"

"Okay. I mean, Hawaii isn't all it's cracked up to be and I've failed to find myself a good man," she let out what sounded like a sigh of disappointment, "but aside from that..."

Gibbs was now praying she wasn't here for what he thinks she is.

"None of them were you, Jethro."

 

There it was. That smile and fluttering the eyelashes look. He had spent years with Jenny Shepard giving him the same come hither look every time she was around him. The last thing he needed was this now.

As Hollis rested her hand on his knee, he quickly brushed it away again and she put on a hurt expression.

"Look, I know I hurt you when I left, but I thought maybe-"

"You didn't hurt me. You went off on your way and I went mine; it was a mutual decision."

She felt rather angry at this. She definitely was hoping that she'd be able to rekindle things with him.

'One step at a time, Hol.' she reminded herself, 'He's difficult.'

"So what about you, Jethro? How's life been treating you?"

 

Sipping on her coffee, she now noticed that Gibbs hadn't touched his. In the past when she handed him one, he would immediately start drinking like he hadn't drunk a drop of liquid all day.

"Not bad. I'm engaged now."

"Oh." her jealousy started to bubble inside her, "So who's the lucky woman. Forth time lucky, I hope."

"Yeah...one lucky ducky." he said, hoping she got the gist of what he was saying.

"Ah, she's the duck in your pond, huh? Does she honk at you often for your stubbornness?"

She didn't want to show how this made her feel, so thought maybe joking around would reveal cracks that she could maybe pick at.

 

Gibbs meanwhile was struggling to explain, but knew that he should just come out with it and she'll hopefully back off.

"No, no, we're pretty good. He knows me better than anyone."

"HE? Whoa, whoa, whoa! He? A lucky du-" it was then that things clicked into place, and she sat dumbfounded for a moment before letting out a laugh, "You and doctor Mallard? Come off it, Jethro. That's funny though, you almost had me there."

"I'm serious, Holl, we are."

Her face creased into a dark scowl, feeling instantly disgusted at what she heard.

"You're engaged to that boring, speccy eyed-"

"Hey! Don't you dare say such things about him." he said in as low a voice as possible so not to distract any more unwanted attention,  
"You and I are long over, so get over it."

 

And with that, he stood leaving his coffee untouched on the bench and walked away from her, ignoring as she called his name. Quickly though, she was able to catch up to him, stopping him in his tracks despite his best efforts to walk around her.

"You are not gay, Jethro. Whatever this is, you're clearly not thinking straight."

Gently resting his hands on her shoulders, he turned them around.

"Like I said, he knows me better than anyone. If I wasn't meant to be with him, he would have told me."

"Like hell he would. I'm not surprised that he's gay because I've seen the way he is around you. You believe that if you weren't gay, he would give up the chance to be with you?"

"Yes. He did when I first approached him about my feelings. I had to go through a lot to prove I meant it."

"You're sick."

"Maybe, but at least I'm happy."

 

This time when he walked away, she let him go, shaking with barely contained rage as she watched the two men approach each other and embrace.

"Jethro, is everything okay?"

"Yeah. It's just her."

Ducky glanced over his shoulder briefly in the direction Gibbs nodded his head at and saw her glaring at him with invisible daggers.

"Ah. She's decided to show her face again?"

"Yep, and she was not happy with the news about us."

Ducky tried and failed to hide a small smile.

"Well, now that's a shame."

"Don't worry, she won't be getting a wedding invitation."

"Good. Now, my dear, let's get some lunch."

Gibbs knew she was watching, but wouldn't look over at her or make a big scene in front of her. Instead he just hooked his arm though Ducky's and they left.

 

Sitting at Gibbs' usual cafe, he fiddled with his fork. Any hunger he may have felt back at his desk was gone as his gut went into overdrive. Losing focus, the fork fell from his hands back into the table, the napkin cushioning the clang the utensil would have made.  
Reaching for it again, he was stopped by a hand on his own.

"My dear, you look so frustrated and I'm getting the feeling it's not just the return of Ms Mann that's causing it."

Turning his hand over, they linked fingers, and he let out a sigh of irritation.

"Why do I get cold cases, Duck? I swear Vance does it to annoy me."

Taking a bite of his sandwich, Ducky thought for a moment.

"I think, my dear, despite your hatred of such cases, your team has one of the best track records for solving them."

"Doesn't mean I want more of them. Some are so old the evidence was badly handled, and you know how Abby feels about that."

"I do indeed. Can you not talk to the Director about it?"

"There's no point, Duck, he won't listen. It's work that often has to be done eventually."

"But when you get it done and you help a family finally get closure; doesn't that make it all worth it in the end?"

"I guess."

 

After a period of merely being silent as Ducky ate and Gibbs sipped on his coffee, the two of them met each other's eye every now and then. Seeing Ducky smile alone made him feel a bit better.

"I really should see about getting back soon."

Ducky checked his watch and nodded.

"Yes, it would seem our time is almost up. Just give me a moment and we can return together."

 

Returning to the navy yard, they entered the lift, kissing briefly whilst they were its only occupants. No doubt travelling just one floor would change that.

"Right, Duck, I'll see you at home tonight then."

"Yes. I do wish we could just come and go in the one car."

"I know, but if I work late, I won't want you stuck sitting around waiting for me to finish. It's not fair on you."

As he went to kiss him again, the lift pinged and as expected, someone else entered. Gibbs couldn't help but notice she hesitated for a brief second before stepping in. Looking at Ducky, he saw that he'd noticed too, and they smiled in amusement.  
Gibbs returned to his desk and opened up the cold case file again. Ducky was right. It didn't matter whether the case was old or new, seeing those who committed the offenses being punished and families getting long overdue closure made the job worth it.

 

The autopsy doors swished open and Ducky didn't turn around at first, continuing to fill in the form in front of him.

"Back so soon, Jethro?" he simply said.

"Doctor Mallard."

Dread filled him to the core as he turned around to face the owner of the female voice and got to his feet, making sure to stand so that an autopsy table was between them.

"Ms Mann. It's been a long time."

"It has." she briefly looked at his hands, the engagement ring shining under the autopsy light like it was taunting her, "So, why are you marrying a straight man?"

Hollis decided there was no point in beating about the bush since they both knew why she was there.

"Because I love him, he loves me, and it was he who made the proposal."

"Did you ever think that maybe he's getting...desperate?"

Ducky paused a moment then shrugged.

"It never once crossed my mind and you saying it has no effect."

She let out a small growl, hands resting on the cold metal table as she leaned closer to his face.

"Look, Doctor, I don't believe that this is what Jethro wants."

"Look, Ms Mann, I don't believe _you_ know what Jethro wants." he spat back, struggling to keep his temper in check.

"This is stupid! It's all absolute rubbish! He will come to his senses before he sets foot down the aisle with you!"

"You don't not know him well enough to make any assumptions."

 

Jimmy heard the raised voices from the back room but didn't dare take a look. On hearing Hollis' voice, he immediately reached for his phone. Thankfully his brief stint as medical examiner whilst Ducky recovered from his heart attack meant he had Gibbs' cell number.  
As it rang, Gibbs squinted at the name, surprised but then concerned.

"Palmer?"

"Agent Gibbs, sorry for disturbing you but Hollis Mann is here in autopsy arguing with Doctor Mallard."

"I'm on my way. Try and stop them if things get physical."

Hanging up, Gibbs took the stairs as quick as possible, almost tripping twice in his haste.

 

Hollis' voice grew louder as her anger increased, her hand reaching across the table and grabbing Ducky by the bowtie, pulling him forward until the table started digging into him.

"Did you tell me about Shannon and Kelly to deliberately put me off of him so you could get your hands on him?"

Now angry and attempting to release himself, he too was yelling.

"I would never do such a thing! I told you about them because you said he was shutting you out about something! You said that you didn't want to be another one of Jethro's mistakes!"

"So instead you're going to be a mistake, even though you know what you're getting into? Maybe it's you who's the desperate one!"

"Get over it! He didn't want you, and it was more than a year until he started courting me. I've known him long enough to know what makes him tick."

 

Taking a steady breath, Jimmy stepped out.

"What is going on, doctor?"

He put on an innocent wide eyed expression and stared between them. Only then did Hollis release Ducky from her grip, his bowtie badly askew.

Ducky was the first to recover, speaking once again in a calm voice.

"It's fine, Mr Palmer." he turned back to Hollis, "Miss Mann was just leaving."

"I am not."

The autopsy doors swished open again, and Jimmy almost let out a sigh of relief to see Gibbs storm in.

"What are you doing down here?"

"I was just congratulating Doctor Mallard." she lied.

 

Gibbs' eyes averted to Ducky for a brief moment to make sure he was okay before guiding her into the elevator.  
With them out of sight, Ducky returned to his chair and sat down with a thud, letting out a deep breath.

"Doctor Mallard, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." he replied, undoing his bowtie completely along with the top two buttons of his shirt, "Jimmy, did you by any chance call agent Gibbs down here?"

"I'm sorry Doctor, I just...I've never liked her and I was worried."

Ducky smiled and reached up to pat him on the shoulder.

"It's fine. In fact I'm glad you did."

"She didn't hurt you, did she?"

His hands raised to reach out and check Ducky's neck for damage, but he was stopped.

"No, I'm fine. Really I am, thanks to you."

"Well can I make you some tea then?"

"That would be wonderful, dear boy, thank you."

 

Gibbs stood nearest the button panel. He couldn't let her corner him in the lift for fear that she might use its lack of security cameras as an advantage and possibly claim he attacked her or something. It sounded slightly daft in his head at first, but he knew all too well that 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'.

As she tried to reach for the power switch, he made sure to stand between her and it whilst praying for the doors to open again on the ground floor.

When they did, he even walked her out of the building to her car. As she reached for the driver's side door, she stopped and turned to face him.

"So this is it then, Jethro? This is really how you plan to spend the rest of your life? With a man?"

"That is what I've decided."

"You're mad, you know. Stark raving bonkers!"

"Yes, I'm loco en el coco, but I'm very happy that way. I'm sorry you don't approve, but I really do love him."

"I could have given you happiness. I still can."

"And I would only give you misery. You know my past and my attempts to replace Shannon...This is me not replacing her this time."

"Fine. Whatever, you stupid...QUEER! Well when you do come to your senses, I'll be gone!"

Gibbs shrugged and stood back as she climbed into her car and slammed the door. She drove away without another word and he hoped she was serious about staying away.

 

Having seen that she'd left the car park, he immediately returned to autopsy where Ducky was sat sipping on a cup of herbal tea to help steady his nerves.

Gibbs had noticed Ducky's tie before and now seeing said tie and the buttons that were undone, immediately he was brushing the collar aside to check for any marks on Ducky's neck.

"Duck, you are okay aren't you?"

"I'm fine, Jethro, really I am."

Taking Gibbs' hand in his own, he gave it a reassuring squeeze. Smiling in relief, Gibbs looked over at Jimmy.

"Good job, Palmer."

"Thank you, agent Gibbs, sir."

"I'll see you later on then, Duck, but if you want we could go home together just in case she-"

"Jethro, I very much doubt she'll do anything."

"I just don't want..."

"I know, but it's okay."

Ducky squeezed his hand again before they dropped touch and instead their lips joined briefly.

"I'll try and get home at a reasonable time, okay?"

"You've got to do what you've got to do, my dear."

 

The rest of the day seemed to pass by in a flash, and every time Gibbs looked at a clock, another hour had seemed to disappear.  
His team were all working hard following up leads wherever possible, but trying to find people when they had made a habit of moving house several times was not a fun chase for them and wasted a lot of time.

Eventually, Gibbs told his team to leave. Tim and Ziva did with a sense of exhausted relief, but Tony remained at his desk. It was getting late, and Gibbs still had more statements, enquiries and logs to read through. Hating himself for putting his work first, he rang Ducky.

"Hey Duck, I didn't disturb you, did I?"

"No, I'm just reading up on something."

"So everything's okay?"

"Of course. Lord, Jethro, you are getting so concerned these days."

"Can't help it," his voice dropped lower, "I love you too much."

Despite trying to be quiet, Tony still heard Gibbs' words and just managed to stop himself from looking up.

"Jethro, am I to assume this is you informing me that you'll be staying on late?"

How did Ducky know?

"Yeah, I am...I'm sorry."

"As I said before, you've got to do what you've got to do. I understand, really I do."

Rubbing his hand over his face, he sighed. Sometimes a Ducky willing to accept disappointment was actually an upset Ducky.

"I'm not going to make a habit of doing this to you, I promise."

"There's no need to promise that to me."

"Yes there is." his voice rose slightly and this time Tony did look up briefly, "Sorry Duck. I'll be quiet when I get in."

"I wouldn't mind. Just knowing you're home safe is good enough."

Gibbs smiled. Whatever force had brought them together, he couldn't be thankful enough.

"I love you, Duck. I'm sorry I can't be there with you."

"I love you too."

 

Some half hour later, a receptionist from front desk appeared, carrying a freshly delivered pizza in her hands. Tony's nose immediately caught the smell and he stared at the pizza longingly as it passed him.

"Agent Gibbs, this was delivered here for you from a certain loving partner of yours."

She smiled and placed the pizza down on the corner of his desk.

Gibbs stared at it in surprise.

"Um...thanks Louisa."

Checking the receipt attached, it was definitely Ducky who ordered it. Opening the box slightly he took a long sniff at it. It smelt good.  
In the opposite corner, Tony continued to stare at it, completely ignoring the Louisa's ass as she passed him again. Normally he would have enjoyed taking a good look as she walked to the lift, but his stomach growled and hunger got the better of him.

Gibbs shook his head and smiled in disbelief, reaching for his phone again.

"Duck."

"Hello again, my dear. Is the pizza to your liking?"

"Oh Duck, you are an angel, you know that?"

"I try."

"You succeed every time."

"I would have sent out for coffee too but your usual place doesn't deliver."

"Duck, you didn't even have to do this for me. I thought you didn't approve of me eating this junk?"

"I may not approve, but it doesn't mean I can really stop you. Besides, I imagine you're hungry since you didn't have any lunch today, and of course I'm sure we could come up with some way to get rid of those naughty calories again."

Gibbs chuckled.

"I'm sure we can." his eyes looked up at Tony briefly, "Thanks honey. I'll make it up to you."

"I look forward to it." Ducky let out a yawn, "Now, my dear, I must get to bed."

"Okay then. Sweet dreams."

 

Smiling to himself, he opened up the pizza box, it's aroma bursting out around him. Taking a slice, he bit off a large chunk and chewed contently. In no time, he'd finished the first slice and reached for another. Only then did he feel he'd tortured Tony enough.

"C'mon." Gibbs said, smirking as Tony almost tripped over the leg of his desk in his haste to get a slice.

"Thanks boss."

"Thank Ducky, not me."

Tony smiled and tucked into a slice with a happy hum. What he wouldn't give to have someone send pizza to him when he was working late.

 

As he devoured it, he remembered back to that day he first heard the rumour about Gibbs and Ducky. It had seemed so impossible at the time and yet now it was like it was meant to be.

Attending their party on Christmas day helped him see a new side to his boss, and yet very little had really changed when they were at work. There was no denying that his boss had slightly mellowed thanks to how happy he was, but he could still be a hard ass when push came to shove.

Now from scuttlebutt rumour to an approaching marriage, things had seemed to pass by far too quickly.

"What?"

"I was just thinking...Not six months ago we found out about you and Ducky, and now you're getting married to him."

"Well we have been together over a year."

"That long? And none of us actually noticed for about eight months."

Gibbs shrugged and grabbed his third piece as Tony grabbed his second.

"So are you going to have a stag party then?"

"Too old for that. Never was my thing anyway."

"And Abby is going to be a bridesmaid?...In fact who out of the two of you will be the bride?"

The split second he finished, he knew he'd screwed up, and the head slap that followed was expected.

"Sorry boss."

 

Tony stayed silent for a while, focusing only on eating his food and relieved that he wasn't told to go back to his own desk, but soon  
his need to ask questions continued to get the better of him.

"So where you going on your honeymoon?"

"DiNozzo." Gibbs sighed in frustration.

"I just wanted to know because McGee was thinking maybe as a wedding present we could just pay into a fund for your honeymoon, that's all.

Tony sat silently waiting, wondering if Gibbs had even thought that far ahead.

"I thought of taking Duck back to Scotland. Back to his home city for a week or two."

" Good...I'm glad. Ducky would like that."

Another brief moment of silence and Gibbs knew Tony was going to burst into questions any moment. Despite that, he tried not to look over at him and encourage him.

"So, Fornell is gonna be the best man, huh?"

"Yeah."

"I guess it makes sense what with Ducky not being able to play both roles." in his mind he berated himself. What a load of rubbish he was spouting.

"Well I also came up with your responsibility."

"What's that, boss?"

"Well you know how to play guitar, right? I was wondering if you could do music. Just for when Ducky and I come up the aisle and  
back."

"Really? What songs?"

"I dunno. That's down to you to find good ones. Talk to Abby about it."

"Thank you , boss. It would be an honour."

"Now will you stop asking me questions?"

" Definitely."

He could sense that Gibbs' patience with him was wearing thin, so silently he took another slice of pizza and moved back to his desk.

"Sorry about...what I said about being a bride."

"Just work, DiNozzo."


	11. Letting Go Of The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gibbs makes a trip up to Arlington cemetery for his yearly tradition

As it reached 1 a.m., Gibbs stared blankly at the papers on his desk. So far he'd managed to find a fair amount of useful info and accounts that needed looking into, but it was stuff that Tim and his computer knowledge was going to have to take over on.  
There was even a new suspect to interview, but that too would have to wait until later on in the morning.

"DiNozzo, in the morning I want you and Ziva to go to this address and interview a Linda Blessed."

"Will do. Boss, you know, you can go home? I'll keep on working."

"No, it's not fair on you."

"I've got no one to go home to, but you have." he nodded his head in the direction of the lift "Go on."

Gibbs allowed himself to show the gratitude in his eyes as he collected up his things. Folders were put in the bottom of his desk drawer, a stack of papers for McGee to go through left over on his desk, and handed the address to Tony before patting him on the back.

"Thanks Tony."

 

Making it home in record time on the quiet streets, he did his usual routine of checking all doors and windows were locked, stopped by the bathroom for a few minutes, then stripped down and climbed into bed to gently spoon up against the back of the older man.

Ducky stirred slightly and grumbled something before promptly dozing back to sleep. Gibbs smiled and nuzzled gently against the back of Ducky's neck. This was so much better than falling asleep at his desk.

 

As soon as Ziva arrived in the office a little after 8am, Tony stood in preparation to leave.

"C'mon, we gotta go. Gibbs left us an address we need to go to."

"I've only just sat down, Tony, so give me a minute." she took in the bags under his eyes, "Have you been here all night?"

"Yeah. Gibbs stayed till around one, then went home."

He reached for the pizza box and ate the last slice before throwing the box into the bin. It was weird to think that before, the idea of cold pizza from the night before would disgust Tony, but having worked with Gibbs for so long he didn't think twice about it anymore.

Ziva shook her head.

"I cannot believe you two stayed so late and stuffed your faces on pizza."

"Ah, but you don't know the best bit."

"Which is?"

"Ducky ordered it for Gibbs and had it sent to him here at the office."

"Wow, I thought he always hated Gibbs eating that kind of stuff."

"Yeah, but seems he let him off. I heard Gibbs called Ducky 'honey'."

"Gibbs did that?" Tim asked, suddenly appearing out of nowhere, "That is sweet, and very...un-Gibbs like."

Tony jumped slightly at the sound of Tim's voice.

"Geez! McGee, where did you come from?"

"I've been here about half an hour, but when I got in you were snoring your head off."

Tony looked over at Tim's desk where indeed his bag was, and files already sat open.

"But a minute a go you weren't..."

"I had to hit the head. It must be said though, Gibbs has mellowed slightly as a result of being with Ducky."

Tony snorted.

"Yeah, only slightly. I cannot believe that the hard-ass we have for a boss can actually be sweet."

"Which is why he left you here?" Ziva asked.

"I told him he could leave. I could tell by his expressions when on the phone that Ducky was disappointed that he was staying here late, but he obviously understood since he sent the pizza."

"Don't suppose," Tim said with amusement, "whilst you were both stuffing on Pizza you asked him about wedding presents, did you?"

"Actually, I did, and he's planning on taking Ducky on holiday to Scotland."

"Well that sounds good. So let's all put money in for that and I'll look up a hotel for them to stay in. Then all I'll have to do is confirm it with Gibbs and hopefully we'll have it all sorted out in plenty of time."

 

" We'll deal with that soon enough. For now, we have a case to get over and done with. Ziva, lets ride!"

"Ride to where exactly?"

Tony handed over the piece of paper with the address on.

"I'm driving though because I want us to get there in one piece."

"I didn't actually hit that truck, Tony."

"Oh nooo, missing it by mere inches was fine."

 

Tim laughed to himself as he heard them continue to squabble as they entered the lift.

Having heard enough of Ducky's stories, he knew where to focus his hotel search at least, but balancing the case and planning their  
honeymoon wasn't going to be easy. How Abby was handling everything he didn't know, but had a feeling a lot of Caf-pow had been consumed over the past few months.

 

When Gibbs woke again, he was now alone in the bed. Putting his hand where Ducky had been; it still felt slightly warm to the touch which obviously meant Ducky hadn't long got up either. Stretching as he got to his feet, he went for a shower and could already smell breakfast cooking downstairs.

Fresh and dressed, he was happy to hear Ducky humming to himself. Stepping into the kitchen, Ducky heard his footfalls and turned to greet him, currently in pyjamas and dressing gown.

"Good morning, my dear."

"Hey Duck."

Wrapping his arms around the smaller man's waist, he leaned down to kiss him deeply. After a long moment of neither parting away, Ducky was the one to eventually do so.

"Hang on a moment." he said, turning over the mushrooms in the pan.

Seeing they were cooked perfectly, he moved the pan to the back ring, turned the front one off and turned his attention back to his fiancé.

"Now," he said with a smile, "where were we?

 

Cupping Ducky's ass, he pulled him up to continue kissing his lips until his tongue slipped past them. They stayed like that for several more moments, lost in their own bubble until the need for oxygen overtook their senses.

Gibbs gazed down into Ducky's eyes and smiled.

"You are so beautiful." he whispered, and took delight out of watching Ducky's eyes soften and cheeks blush at the words.

 

Before they could get distracted into kissing again, his stomach growled and he looked at the mushrooms and scrambled eggs on the cooker.

"Healthy breakfast this morning, Duck? Is this to make up for the pizza last night?"

"Quite so."

"I didn't eat all of it, you know, DiNozzo had some too. He sends his thanks, and I" he kissed Ducky's neck again, just briefly, "am so grateful to you for it."

Ducky rested his head against Gibbs' chest, listening to the heartbeat beneath.

"I must admit I did wonder whether I would wake up this morning and find that you had not returned home at all."

"I wouldn't do that to you, Duck."

 

It hurt Gibbs when Ducky said nothing, keeping his face hidden snug against his chest. After all, he knew all too well that he needed to learn when to put work first and when not to. Tony was right, he did have something to come home to now, and he'd be a complete idiot to ruin it.

"I know, Duck, I don't believe myself either, but I'm going to try. For you, I really am going to try."

The squeeze he received calmed him slightly, and he stroked the top of Ducky's head, enjoying the feeling of silky hair glide through his fingers.

"When you've finished, my dear, would you like poached egg with mushrooms and Sautéed tomatoes?"

"I would love it."

 

When Gibbs made it back to the bullpen an hour later, the team were not at their desks when he arrived.

Sitting down in his seat, he decided to enjoy the silence. The only sounds at that moment was Fred on the far side cubicle typing away on his computer, but it wasn't overly distracting. Peace however didn't last for long as the sound of heavy heeled shoes came clomping in his direction.

" Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs!" Abby cried, a large smile on her face.

"Abs, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. Everything is right! I just want you to know that I've got the perfect venue for the wedding party booked that's only ten minutes drive from the registry office, I know a good DJ who's up for providing music of your choosing, and Tony, Ziva and McGee are gonna help me decorate it."

"Thanks Abs. You know we appreciate all the work you've done for us whilst balancing case work. It can't be easy."

"No, but it's been fun. McGee heard from Tony about your honeymoon plans and wants to talk to you about hotels and stuff."

"Actually I was thinking of renting a place; just a small cottage or something. I haven't told Ducky yet, but the sale on my old house is closing next week and like I expected, I am going to get a good payout from it as there's three people bidding on it."

"Isn't it sad seeing that place go?"

"Of course it is, but it was just filled with echoes of the past. My relationship with Ducky wouldn't survive if I kept going back to that place to wallow in my old demons."

 

Abby felt joy flood within her at the words. She'd seen Gibbs struggle with his problems over the years she'd known him. To be looked upon as a surrogate daughter meant the world to her, but watching him always struggle to let go of Shannon and Kelly was something she could do nothing about. Yet somehow, Ducky had managed to help him.

"Gibbs, do you tell Ducky all that? You know, about how much he's helped you?"

"Sometimes."

"Gibbs, you've got to tell him. We can all see how much of a difference he's had on you."

"And he can probably see it as well."

"Doesn't mean you don't have to verbally tell him."  
"I will, Abs, okay?"

 

Part of Gibbs was relieved that Tony decided to ring at that moment, stopping the conversation in its tracks for the moment. The determined look on her face however told him she wasn't quite ready to drop the subject yet.

"Yeah, it's Gibbs."

"Boss, we caught up with Ms Blessed, and I think this case just blew wide open."

"Good job, DiNozzo."

Ducky was right, despite his hatred of cold cases, they were very proficient at solving them.

From there the case wound up surprisingly quickly, and before anything else could happen, Gibbs put in for a few days leave, assigning Tony to take lead if anything happened whilst he was gone.

 

As they shared washing up duties (one removing clean items from the dishwasher and the other added new items to it), Gibbs cleared his throat.

He should have talked to Ducky sooner, but as usual everything else got in the way, and he was yet again reminded of things that were going to have to change to make this work.

"Duck, I've got to take a short trip. I'll only be gone for a day or two."

Ducky's mouth twitched into a small, knowing smile, but Gibbs didn't see it.

"Very well, my dear. When will you be leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not." Now Ducky did smile properly, "You're not chained to me, Jethro. You have your own things to do."

Gibbs breathed a mental sigh of relief and returned the smile.

 

After spending half hour sat together on the sofa sipping on Ducky's good scotch, they then headed straight for the bedroom.

That night they gently made love as the rumblings of a thunderstorm passed overhead. There was no penetration; Just hard erection against hard erection. Slowly they thrust against one another, both whispering words of love and affection between light gasps and moans.

They took their time, savouring it for as long as possible until with a wordless cry, Ducky was the first to reach fulfillment. Watching his fiancé's face made Gibbs thrust faster, chasing his own competition until finally it happened.

Slowly he slipped out of the embrace and lay on his back on his side of the bed, and taking a moment for their breathing to return to normal, they looked at each other, both smiling. A rumble of thunder above the house made them jump, but they quickly laughed it off.  
Gibbs reached for the packet of wet wipes he now made sure were forever present in his bedside drawer and wiped them both down.

Already in a post-coital haze, Ducky's eyelids began to droop, so Gibbs wasted no time in pulling the duvet over the both of them and pulled the man back into his arms. As slumber took him, he wished that morning wouldn't come around so soon.

 

As he put on his coat, Gibbs actually felt like he didn't want to leave. It was silly really, he thought to himself, but it showed how different the relationship was when he used to see it as a great opportunity to get away from whichever nagging wife he was with at the time.

Reaching for his overnight bag, Ducky met him at the front door.

"Duck, I'm leaving now."

"Take all the time you need and return back to me safely."

"I will." he pulled Ducky into a gentle kiss, "I love you."

"And I you."

Ducky watched in the doorway as Gibbs' car left the driveway and down the road before he returned inside. He knew where his fiancé was going.

Today was the 28th of February, and the anniversary of Shannon and Kelly's deaths.

Despite never telling anyone his reason for taking personal time off the same few days every year, his team had long ago worked it out.

 

It was snowing as he arrived in Arlington, and like every year, he checked into the same hotel nearest the cemetery, dropped off his bag in his room then left again.

Walking through the rows of tombstones, he finally came to a stop in front of the one he sought. For a moment he looked around to see if anyone was nearby, but other visitors were well out of earshot. Carefully he knelt down on the cold ground, placed the bouquet of lilies on the grave, and gently laid his hand upon it.

Every year without fail, he visited their grave, almost like he was begging them for forgiveness for his mistaken attempts to replace what he had lost. This time though, he felt like he didn't need to apologize.

"I know it's not what either of you probably expected of me but..." he whispered, his voice cracking just slightly, "I'm happy again. Truly happy."

Trying to keep his breath steady, he smiled.

"Ah Kelly, your angel looked great on the top of our Christmas tree. Everyone saw it and really liked it. Ducky said it'll be back out again next Christmas. I wish you two could have had the chance to meet him."

He continued to stay a while longer until the wet ground beneath his knees started to make him uncomfortable. Standing, his left knee ached slightly, but as always, he ignored it.

"I hope you'll be there for the wedding." he said with another smile before turning and walking away.

 

Leaving the steps of the main entrance, something familiar caught his eye. A coat he had recognized from recently, and like a bad dream, Hollis Mann once again stood before him. How dare she follow him here.

It took all his strength to rein in his anger, but it didn't stop him from hissing when he spoke.

"What do you want?"

"I just...I came to apologize."

"I don't wanna hear it."

 

Like before, he tried to walk away from her, but thanks to his aching knee, he didn't get far fast enough. She instead managed to stop him in a slightly secluded place on the corner of the main building, which make him panic just slightly.

"How did you even find me here?"

"Because you came here when we were together, remember? You didn't tell me why you were coming here, alone, and it was only when I read about Shannon and Kelly did I realize."

"And you decided to stalk me, is that it?"

Gibbs clenched his fists inside his coat pockets.

"No, really Jethro, I just saw it as a good opportunity to apologize."

"How can you change your tune so fast? You assault Ducky and call me a queer and now suddenly you're apologizing?"

 

Somehow she was keeping her voice calm and kind, and Gibbs could already sense she was again trying to win favor with him.

"I just...I was shocked at the time. You turning to marry a man all of a sudden. How could someone like him," her hand brushed against his cheek, "turn your head from all the available women in this world."

Gibbs jerked his head away like he'd been burnt.

"Stop it." he hissed again.

"Maybe we could, just this one last time." she said, suddenly sounding desperate, "No one need know. Just one last night together, and then I'll return to Hawaii and you can marry your good doctor."

"No."

 

His voice firm as he tried to move around her. Even though they couldn't be seen all that well, the place was bustling with people and he didn't want anyone to think he was assaulting her if he pushed her hard.

"No? Did these breasts" she pushed her bust against him so he was stuck between her and the wall behind him and whispered, "not pleasure you? Did my mouth around your cock not feel good?"

Her hand was about to slip through the front of the jacket to reach his crotch, but his reflexes were still quick and he grabbed her by the wrist with just enough strength to hold it but not leave any marks or cut off circulation. He still didn't trust her not crying wolf if the chance arose.

"It did, but it's not required of you anymore."

"You mean he sucks better than I do?" she shook her arm free from his grip, voice raising, "Does his ass really feel all that good to be in? Or do you have him fuck you? Is that what you were looking for all this time?"

"It's not just about sex."

"It seemed it always was with us."

"Because it was all I could do to stop you from pressuring me about making changes."

She gawped at him.

"You sold your house and now you're getting married. How is it any different?"

"Because I was the one who made the decisions. Ducky didn't pressure me into any of it. He's known me for so much longer than you have, and there are things you still don't know about me; things that would make how you feel about me change, but Ducky took those things in his stride and has done so much for me. After Shannon, he's the closest I've ever come to finding another soul mate. I'm sorry that that person wasn't you, but that's the way it goes."

 

Hollis let out a sigh of defeat and thankfully stepped away. She knew it was pointless now, and eventually she'd have to try and get over him all over again.

"Very well, Jethro. I...You'll be glad to hear that I'm going back to Hawaii in two days time. I won't be bothering you or your precious Ducky again."

And with that, she turned and walked away without looking back, leaving a rather stunned but relieved Gibbs leaning against the wall of the building behind him.

'Was that it?' he wondered to himself, but then silently prayed it was.

 

For a long while he battled with deciding whether he should tell Ducky or not about his most recent, and hopefully last, encounter with Hollis Mann. However when he called home that evening, Ducky could sense something was wrong and called him out on it.

The words flowed easily and he gave many assurances and heartfelt promises that he was indeed alone in his hotel room. When Ducky said the words 'I believe you' he sighed out loud in relief. It sounded genuine and was what he needed to hear.

Having said their goodnights, Gibbs showered and climbed into his large and empty double bed, whilst pondering on maybe he should bring Ducky along to see their graves next year. His thoughts however gradually slowed down, and he drifted off to sleep.

 

The next day he spent just walking around the local area, looking in book stores for anything Ducky may like and eventually came back with three books for him, and one for himself. Much to his relief, Hollis did not appear to show her face again, or if she did take her time watching him then she was very good at hiding.

As the weather turned colder and the snow started falling again, he picked up a meal to go and returned to his hotel room where he got comfortable against the headboard of the bed and started to read his book.

 

The ringing of his phone made him jerk awake and he squinted in the now darkness whilst wondering when he had fallen asleep.

"Hello Jethro, did I disturb you?"

"No, it's okay." he yawned and moved to get off the bed, "I found a book store not far from the hotel, found a book, and ended up falling asleep in my room reading, that's all. Is everything okay there?"

"Yes, my dear, everything is fine. I just wanted to know roughly what time you'd be home tomorrow so that I can have dinner ready in time. I was thinking roasted duck breast in a stir fry. Does that suit your taste buds?"

"You're the chef, Duck. I'll probably be back maybe around five?"

Gibbs yawned again, unable to hold it, and Ducky took it as a sign to go.

"Well, my dear, that's fine. I look forward to seeing you again. For now though, sleep tight."

"I will. Night Duck."

"Goodnight. I love you."

"Love you too, honey."

Hanging up, he found himself once again smiling. That night he had a peaceful sleep, and dreamt of having Ducky back in his arms.

 

On the way back home, Gibbs stopped at the jewelers that he had seen the perfect rings in the front display few weeks before.

Looking in the window, he saw them again. They were silver with thin gold outer rings accompanied by a small diamond. It was nothing too flashy, but was still elegant enough, and he knew it would be what Ducky would like.

Without a moment's hesitation, he paid for them and returned to the car. As he was about to start it, his mobile rang.

"Mr Gibbs?"

"Yeah, who's this?"

"I'm Miss Foray from the Willow Real Estate calling about your house."

"It sold?"

"Yes, after much fighting over it, the final price stands at Eight-hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars. I hope you are happy with this price?"

"I-I-yes, I am. Thank you."

"No problem. When can we meet and work on the final signing of papers and transfer of money?"

"Tomorrow will do if you have any space free."

"Tomorrow at eleven a.m.?"

"That'll be fine."

"Great, I look forward to seeing you then."

"Yes, thank you. Bye."

 

Closing his phone, he took a few minutes to process it all. That was it. The house he shared with Shannon and Kelly was now going to be someone else's family home. The final price was never going to be that much of a massive deal to him, but now his mind was whirling with new ideas.

What if he bought Ducky a cottage back in Scotland for them to go on vacation to? Would that be what he'd want?

Shaking his head, he cleared his mind of it for now and turned the key in the ignition.

 

He felt his heart soar as he parked up back at home, where Ducky was already standing in the doorway to greet him. Grabbing his stuff, he dropped them down just inside the door way and swiftly closed the door.

"Welcome home, Jethro."

Ducky let out a gasp as he was almost knocked off his feet as Gibbs pulled him close and kissed him repeatedly.

"I love you, Duck, with all my heart and soul." he said, his voice almost a whisper. "I love you. I love you so, so much."

"Oh Jethro. My dear, words could not express how much I love you in return."

"You know, if I hadn't proposed to you already, I would be doing it now."

"You can do so again if you so wish. I certainly wouldn't say no."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The wedding rings Gibbs chose: https://65.media.tumblr.com/096f6195d1de2183de6a59a3626422e4/tumblr_nfdmziAKq41tbyj9qo1_400.jpg


	12. Husbands For Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The big day has finally arrived!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is! The final part! I'm sorry it's been so long since the previous part, but due to many different things, the most recent being my laptop dying (I keep all fics on my flash drive luckily so nothing lost there), I then had to get around to buying a new one. I hope that you've all enjoyed the series. Thank you so much to everyone for your comments, and if you've been waiting till it was complete to finally read it, I hope it was worth to wait :D

The night before the wedding, Gibbs agreed to stay with Tobias whilst Ducky stayed home with Abby to help with any last preparations.

"I can't wait to see you in your tuxedo." Ducky said as he followed Gibbs out onto the front porch where Tobias waited to pick him up.

"I'll see you tomorrow at the altar."

"No getting cold feet now."

Whilst Ducky said it with what he hoped was a humorous air, Gibbs could hear the concern behind it. Gently he cupped Ducky's face in his hands, leaned down, and kissed his lips softly.

"Never."

Ducky in response wrapped his arms around Gibbs' waist and happily kissed back.

 

Tobias gave them a few moments, seeing a cloud in the sky that was suddenly very interesting before finally clearing his throat.

"Ah geez, come on, save it for the honeymoon."

Both smiling, Gibbs ran his hand over Ducky's hair and kissed him on the forehead one last time before pulling away.

"Tomorrow, Duck."

 

Not long after Gibbs left, the excited whirlwind that was Abby arrived on the doorstep, carrying an array of bags.

"Abigail, what's all this?"

"Just a few last minute bits that I'll put up at the registry office tomorrow. I've spent most of the day doing the hall with Ziva, Jimmy, and Tim. You're gonna love it.

She put the bags down beside the front door and looked around.

"Where's Gibbs?"

"He's staying with Tobias for the night."

"Keeping the old traditions?"

"Just a few. I've got something old which is my father's pocket watch, something new being the bracelet Jethro gave me for Christmas, Mr Palmer has given me a set of cufflinks as something borrowed, and all I need is something blue."

Abby smiled, and went to talk, but he stalled her.

"I know my eyes are blue. Jethro has already said it."

"Damn!"

"I'll sort something out before morning. Now, let's get the kettle on. Tea?"

"Please. You got earl grey?"

"Of course."

 

As Ducky set about making tea, Abby watched with interest as to the way Ducky was smiling, and how there was even a small spring in his step as he moved around. Leaning against the door jamb, she smile in amusement.

"So, are you excited?"

"A bit nervous if I am truly honest, my dear."

"It'll be fine, I promise. Although I'd be nervous too if I was marrying the boss-man."

"Any day now I'm expecting to wake up and find it was either a long dream that's made almost year pass in a matter of hours, or wake up to find I had been in a coma for all these months and again dreamt it all."

"Well that's not gonna happen. This is all most definitely real."

"I'm glad of that. Any idea what song Tony has for the ceremony?"

"Maaaaybe, but he told me not to tell you or Gibbs. What about your vows?"

Ducky huffed out a laugh as he poured boiling water from the kettle into the tea pot.

"I've written them over and over, but I always tend to go on a bit too long."

"Well what have you got? Can I read them?"

"Sorry, but no. Like everyone else, you'll have to wait until tomorrow."

"So, come on, how did it happen?"

"It?"

"You and Gibbs. Seriously, I don't think any amount of Tarot cards or crystal balls could have predicted this."

"I have no real idea to be honest. It just...happened."

"Have you always fancied him?"

Ducky blushed bright red, making Abby giggle.

"Of course, I knew it all along."

"How?"

"Remember when you said a few years ago about how you hadn't been to Paris or to the theatre? And Gibbs asked if you were asking him on a date?"

"That was quite some time ago, Abby."

"I know, but it was obvious you were asking him out."

"Maybe so, but he certainly didn't know that."

"Did you though?"

"I honestly don't remember. It didn't really matter to me because I knew then that he wasn't going to look at me as anything more than a friend. You can imagine my surprise when he offered to take it to the next level."

"So he approached you? Something must have triggered it."

"True, but I have no idea what. At first I rejected the idea entirely. You and I both know that what with his history of women to suddenly change his preference to a man, yet alone something as old as me, just seemed preposterous. "

"Ducky." she pulled him into a hug, "Stop putting yourself down like that. Gibbs loves you so very much. Anyone with eyes can see that."

"I know. Anyway, I told him to properly think about it and come to terms with whether he was willing to risk our friendship. I feared it was a silly little infatuation his mind thought was a good idea at the time."

"But Gibbs doesn't make such heavy decisions on a whim."

"Maybe so, but it just seemed so unlike him at the time. Please understand though that now I have no doubts about his feelings for me."

"I'm glad. Although I think Christmas day showed us all just how much you mean to him. I know he has a loving side to him, but wow, to see it in full bloom like that despite the fact that we were there. He didn't hide any of it."

"Believe me, there is so much more to him than you may think you know." with a small smile and a wink, he handed over her tea.

 

Sat in Tobias' living room, to two men chatted about some recent weird case events they'd both encountered over a glass of scotch.  
Tobias couldn't help but notice how alive Gibbs seemed to be. Even when he wasn't speaking, there was a spark of something there that he'd not seen before.

"Got your vows written down yet?"

"Nope. Just gonna wing it."

Tobias snorted in amusement.

"That really wise?"

"Worked for me before. Hell, when I proposed to Duck, I just went with how I felt."

"When I told Diane about you two, she thought I was joking."

"Seems a lot of my exes think that...what she say?"

"Said that really, she could see you two were clearly close, but never thought you’d both actually get together. You're under strict instructions to treat him right though."

Gibbs couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

"As if I didn't have enough people telling me that."

"Well I'm telling you too, okay? I may not know him as well as you do, but I can tell that hurting him would be a very bad idea."

"Yeah. He's been hurt before many times and seeing him be all melancholy isn't fun to watch. I already know that I can't screw this up. I don't need people telling me anymore."

"So how did you two, you know?"

"Guess I took my head out of my ass long enough to notice. It's weird how things suddenly changed, and I've always been close to him in all the years I've known him, but now whenever I see him I just wanna..." he smiled, "It sounds daft coming from me, but just wanna kiss him and hold him tight. He's been more of a rock to me than any other woman I married after Shannon."  
"Yeah, I get it. I saw enough back at your place. You will hug him, and pet him, and squeeze him, and call him George."

Gibbs gave him a confused look.

"The abominable snowman from Looney Tunes?"

"But I don't want a bunny rabbit, I've got a duck." he said, deadpan until a grin crept onto his face.

 

They both laughed and Tobias shook his head as he re-filled their empty glasses with a drop more scotch.

"Be honest though, you've always been a bit smitten by him."

Gibbs took his glass back with a smile.

"Well yeah, but not like this. I never expected this. Besides, have you seen what he looked like in his younger days?"

"He looked like Illya Kuryakin, right?"

"Yeah. Hell I can think of a tonne of guys who wish they could have aged as good as Ducky has."

"You got that right. You're both older than me and still got all your hair!"

"Being married to Diane too long can do that to you."

 

Tobias shook his head again at Gibbs' grin and laughed, his hand unconsciously running over his continuously thinning hair.

"Still doesn't fully explain why out of all the guys you could have gone gay for, you chose Ducky."

"I think I've reached a point now where I'm tired of women and their attempts to change me. Duck knows me well enough and puts up with my faults. He's put up with a lot of my crap and he's never walked away from me...well, not for all that long. I know that things are going to change, and some things have already, but I can handle the compromise."

"No more boats in the basement will be the first thing then? You never told me how the hell you get them outta there."

"Been thinking of getting one of those house sheds as a workshop since the garden space is large enough, but I'm worried he'll think I'll spend too much time in there, rather than in the house with him."

"Would you?"

"Probably. That's why I know it's not a good idea. I know that I shouldn't have a new basement to just sit and wallow in my own problems in."

"You're already making changes to yourself for him. You'll both work it out. I may not have seen much of you two together, but earlier, I saw the love between you."

 

After a few hours more hours of simply talking, Gibbs was sat on the spare bedroom bed, opening his wallet and sliding out the pictures he kept snuggly inside it.

The first was of course a picture of Shannon, smiling at the camera like the angel she was. The next being a picture of Kelly, clearly giggling at something he'd said as it was taken.

The third and final was one of Ducky that Abby had taken a few years ago down in autopsy. Ducky was stood at his light box, an x-ray in his hands and smiling softly. He looked as smart as always in his long white work coat and crisp blue shirt that matched his gleaming eyes.

Abby had given Gibbs the photo not long after the news of their relationship had come out, and he appreciated that she'd known to print it small enough to fit in his wallet. Eventually, he pushed the photos away again and climbed into bed in the hope of getting some sleep, although he doubted he would.

 

Much to his surprise, he slept for a good five hours and awoke feeling as excited as a kid on Christmas morning.

Showered and dressed, he looked at himself in the mirror and straightened his tie. He couldn't believe that this day had come. After everything he'd gone through before, he'd decided he was never going to marry again, and yet here he was.

"Looking good, Jethro. Nervous?"

"A bit."

"Yeah, I remember how I was when I was gonna marry Diane. Almost got in the car and drove in the opposite direction."

"Why didn't you?" he asked, a small smile on his face.

"I sometimes wonder why as well, but it was worth it to have Emily."

"Is she coming too?"

"At school, but she sends her love." He looked at his watch, "Let's get going."

 

As they went to climb into their car, a familiar one pulled up to the curb. Diane stepped out and approached them with a smile.

"Oh jeez." Tobias muttered and looked over at Gibbs.

"Diane." Gibbs smiled slightly.

"I'm glad I caught you before you left." she stepped up to Gibbs and touched the lapel of his jacket, "You look good. But then you always did scrub up well when you made the effort. I knew, you know. You and Ducky. It was bound to happen at some point."

"How?"

"Our second wedding anniversary. You forgot and I ended up sitting at home, drunk."

She crossed her arms and gave him a playful glare before one side of her lips curled into a smile.

"You should have called me."

"I did. You had your phone turned off because you were at the theatre with Ducky."

Gibbs blushed as the memory. To this day he could never really admit it to anyone, least of all Ducky, but he found 'Miss Saigon' very enjoyable.

 

He'd originally bought the tickets for Mrs Mallard as a birthday gift. At the time she had been having an early days relationship with one of her fellow corgi lovers, but then they parted for reasons still unknown to him and she insisted he came along instead.

"Sorry."

"That's what you said then."

"Yeah. You then slapped me."

"You deserved it."

"It hurt."

"Good."

Both of them couldn't help but laugh, and she pulled him into a hug, holding him gently before pulling away again.

"Take care of him, Leroy. Lord knows how he's managed put up with your crap as long as he has. He clearly knows something about you that I didn't. Well, apart from." she smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh please God," Tobias put a hand to his face in frustration, "can we just leave before I lose my breakfast?"

"Well, I hope that this is it."

Her hand reached up to gently stroke his cheek.

"You and me both."

 

Taking a deep breath, she stepped away, still keeping her smile steady.

"Right, I have got an important meeting to attend to and I'm already late. Treat him right, Leroy, because if I find out you don't-"

"I know, I know. Go on, get outta here."

 

They watched her leave and Tobias let out a small laugh.

"That went surprisingly well. Come on. Let's go get you hitched for the final time."

 

Ducky tutted at the hall mirror as he combed his hair for the third time, not knowing why he was suddenly so fussy about the way it looked. With a sigh of irritation, he combed it back into its usual style.

His attention was then drawn by high heeled footsteps coming down the stairs.

"How do I look?" Abby asked, reaching the bottom then twirling around in her ankle length cherry red dress, her long black hair tied up in a braided bun.

"Oh Abigail! You look simply wonderful!"

"You think?"

"Oh, you do. Jethro will be delighted when he sees you."

"I think he'll be more excited to see you." she rested a hand on his cheek and smiled, "You're positively glowing, Ducky."

"I can't remember the last time I felt this happy."

 

They both jumped when the doorbell suddenly rang out.

"Who could that be?" he said with a look of confusion.

"I dunno. Maybe you should open it." Abby replied with a sly grin.

 

On doing so, he was greeted by the sight of Jackson Gibbs in a slightly old, but still suitably smart tuxedo.

"Jackson! Do come in."

"Thanks Donald. You look wonderful."

"As do you. I didn't know that you were going to be coming over here."

"Oh, Ducky, I knew." Abby admitted, biting her lip, "Gibbs just didn't want me to say anything."

"Oh? " He looked back and forth between then, "May I ask why?"

"Donald, I know this might seem a bit strange being that Leroy is my son, but well I talked to him about it and we agreed that, and I must add that I would be honored, to walk you up the aisle to him."

"Oh Jack." it was the first time he'd used the short version of the man's name, "I don't know what to say. Thank you."

"Well it was Leroy's idea really. After all, you've done a lot of good for him and he wants this day to be memorable for you as it will be for him."

With a joyful laugh, Ducky pulled Jackson into a hug.

 

Abby watched for a moment with a smile before switching her shoes over for proper heeled ones for driving and slipping her long coat on.

"Okay you two, so I've got to get to the venue since the guests will be arriving there soon. A car will pick you both up in another half hour so I'll see you both there."

"May I just say now, you look truly beautiful Miss Sciuto."

"Jackson, you flirt!" she said, pulling him into a brief hug, "And you look very distinguished. Now I must go."

 

She winked at them both before stepping outside and trying to quickly get to her car. Much to her relief, as she got in, she received a text from McGee who was already there and would hold the fort for her until she arrived.

All the planning they had dealt with, this just had to go right. It would go right. Because a Sciuto planned event is always successful.

 

The main building the reception was being held in was almost like something from the 1800s. The original walls and sturdy oak beams gave the place a nice and homey feel.

By the time Gibbs and Fornell parked up, he recognized a few people going in and couldn't miss Abby standing by the main door.  
Upon seeing them approach, she waved at them.

"Gibbs! You're here!" she quickly snapped a photo of him in his suit, "C'mon, Fornell! Picture of the groom and best man!"

 

The two of them stood side-by-side, smiling and Abby took another few photos before handing Tobias the camera to take photos of her with Gibbs.

Taking the camera back with a word of thanks, she hugged them both, barely containing her excitement.

"Everyone's inside already, and Ducky will be along soon. Oh Gibbs, you should have seen his face when your father turned up."

"I can imagine. Abs, this place looks great."

"I knew you'd like it."

"You look beautiful."

Since she had gotten there she'd received many of the same compliments, and she blushed bright red yet again.

"You guys chose the dress."

"Well, Ducky did. Perfect choice."

"Right, well you two go inside and get ready. I'll let you know when Ducky and your dad arrive."

 

As they entered, they were greeted by one of the staff.

"Welcome, Mr Gibbs. Miss Scuito has informed me of everything so we'll handle it all. The room you're using his just over here." she guided him to the 'Baltimore Arch' room where the guests were already seated and chatting among themselves.

The room was just the right size, and the aisle ran from the door around to the back of the room then down the center. The decorations were simple, consisting of a few banners and ribbons but made the room sparkle as the light shone from the windows on the opposite side of the room.

 

Gibbs stood at the front, checking out the small group of people. Jimmy was smartly dressed, arm in arm with Breena. Beside them was Vance and his wife, Jackie, and even Ned Dorneget and Ducky's previous assistant, Gerald. It surprised him to also see the METRO ME, Tom Hubbard, and even ex- director, Tom Morrow, had turned up.  
One by one, he shook hands with them, thanking them all for coming.

 

Ziva sat on the front row, dressed elegantly in an emerald green dress and matching ear rings. Beside her, sat Tim, dressed in a smart charcoal grey suit and preparing his camera to take photos during the ceremony.  
Tony meanwhile was sat in the corner, making sure his guitar was correctly tuned. On seeing Gibbs, he stood and strode up to him with a beaming smile.

"Hey boss."

"Looking good, DiNozzo."

"I could say the same about you. It's not often we get to see you dressed smart like that."

"Car is pulling up, Gibbs."Abby said, clapping her hands with excitement, "Places everybody!"

 

Gibbs took his spot at the altar and waited for Ducky and his father to appear in the doorway.

The reverend took center stage for a moment.

"Can the guests all rise for the groom."

"Now, Tony!" Abby squeaked in happiness.

 

Tony strummed along the keys once before beginning to play.

'You light, the skies up above me  
A star, so bright you blind me  
Don't close your eyes  
Don't fade away  
Don't fade away  
Ohhhhhh

Yeah you and me we can ride on a star  
If you stay with me now, we can rule the world  
Yeah you and me we can light up the sky  
If you stay by my side, we can rule the world.'

 

Slowly, Ducky and Jackson walked along the aisle around the room and approached the altar. Watching them, Gibbs could already feel tears stinging in his eyes. He blinked repeatedly to try and remove them before they fell, and again he wondered why he was so damn emotional.

'If walls break down, I will comfort you  
If angels cry, oh I'll be there for you  
You've saved my soul  
Don't leave me now  
Don't leave me now  
Ohhhhhh

Yeah you and me we can ride on a star  
If you stay with me now, we can rule the world  
Yeah you and me we can light up the sky  
If you stay by my side, we can rule the world.'

 

Taking their positions, Gibbs looked over at Tony with a small smile. The song was a perfect choice for the words were so accurate, even though he had no clue who the song was actually by.  
Looking down into Ducky's eyes, he could see that he too was already welling up slightly with unshed tears.

 

The reverend approached them and addressed everyone again.

"Please be seated. Good afternoon everybody, and welcome to the marriage of Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Donald Clarence Mallard. We are here to celebrate this special occasion between these two wonderful men, who have found love together and wish to make their unity official in front of all of you here today. My name is reverend Bill Aldred and I am the minister and truly honoured to be here and officiate the coming together of this couple. First, our maid of honour, Miss Abigail Sciuto, would like to read us something."

 

Abby stepped up to the podium at the side and gently cleared her throat.

"Hi, I'm Abby, obviously. I'm truly delighted to be the maid of honour for these two wonderful men. Setting up this wedding has been a lot of fun, and I can't thank all of you enough for taking time out of your busy lives to be here today. This poem I'm about to read is called "Love Is A Great Thing" by Thomas à Kempis.

'Love is a great thing, yea, a great and thorough good. By itself it makes that is heavy light; and it bears evenly all that is uneven.  
It carries a burden which is no burden; it will not be kept back by anything low and mean; it desires to be free from all wordly affections, and not to be entangled by any outward prosperity, or by any adversity subdued.

Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility. It is therefore able to undertake all things, and it completes many things, and warrants them to take effect, where he who does not love would faint and lie down.

Though weary, it is not tired; though pressed it is not straitened; though alarmed, it is not confounded; but as a living flame it forces itself upwards and securely passes through all.

Love is active and sincere, courageous, patient, faithful, prudent and manly.'"

 

Everyone clapped and she smiled as she left the podium for her seat next to Tim and the reverend took lead once again.

"And now, they will each read their vows that will be a promise to each other for their marriage. These promises you are about to state have come from your hearts, and so I will invite you each place a ring on your soon to be husband's third finger of the left hand as you affirm your vows. If our best man would please hand over one of the rings."

Tobias stepped forward and handed Gibbs one of the rings with a wink and a smile.

 

Ducky held out his shaking hand and let out a small but happy sob as it was placed on his finger by an equally shaking hand.

Gibbs took a deep breath. The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop and he did his best not to look out at the small crowd watching them, but his eyes briefly flicked to Abby who silently urged him to speak.

 

Looking into Ducky's eyes again, so full of happiness and love, he smiled and felt his heartbeat increase tenfold. Clearing his throat, he started to speak.

"Du- Donald, I...I never expected us to be standing here together like this. In all the years we've known each other, you've seen me at my worst. I've not been the easiest person to be around, and there's been times that I've said and done things that have hurt you. And yet, somehow you've always found it in your heart to forgive me and even tell me what needs to be said when I'm too stubborn to listen to anyone else." he laughed, gently squeezing Ducky's hand.

In the corner of his eye, he could see both Abby and Ziva were already gently trying to dab away tears without ruining their mascara and a few sniffs also broke out in the crowd.

"Whenever I've needed support, you've been there with wisdom and love by the boat load. The love I have for you over the years has grown and it keeps on growing by the day. From the day we decided to move our relationship on to the next level, my life has just continued to get better. Thanks to you, I'm moving on from the demons of my past; demons that I should have fought a long time ago, but couldn't do alone. I don't know how you've managed to be so patient and understanding because I would have walked away from me months ago. I'm still convinced that I don't deserve someone as wonderful as you, but I do want to finally start making up for everything I've ever done wrong, and give you all the love you deserve."

 

The reverend smiled, and Ducky's eyes wouldn't leave the sight of the ring now sat snug on his finger.

"That was wonderful, Leroy. Now Donald, it's your turn."

 

Ducky took the second ring, almost dropping it as he fumbled with it until succeeding to gently slide it onto Gibbs' finger.

Holding onto Gibbs' hand with both of his own, he lifted it to rest it on his chest. Despite having written out his vows many times, each reiteration was as long as the last, and in the end he knew that when the time came, he would be able to say it without reading it off paper.

"My dear, sweet, Jethro. Since the day we first met I knew that despite your sometimes brash demeanour, deep down you have a heart of gold. No, it hasn't been easy, but nothing really is, and such is life. I've seen so much of the good you've helped create and the lives you have touched and you've even saved my life on more than one occasion. I know you can't see what I see, and I could stand here all day telling you the reasons why I love you, but I know that everyone else here would rather I tried to keep this short. My dearest mother, not long before her passing, on one occasion recognised me and said, "When are you going to marry that lovely young Jethro boy?". I never imagined that it would actually happen, and I hope that wherever she is now, she's seeing this and smiling."

He stopped suddenly, searching his pocket for a handkerchief as the tears ran down his face. A hand on his elbow stopped him and the reverend held out a tissue box. With a word of thanks, he took one and wiped his eyes.

"I'm almost done, I promise." he said, and a trickle of laughter erupted from the group.  
Taking a steady breath, he continued.

"Jethro, in the time we've been together as a couple, you have shown me so much love and affection that I never thought possible. I love you, Jethro, with all my heart and soul. If there was anyone that I could spend the rest of my life with, I'm so glad that it's you."

"Ah jeez, Duck." Gibbs muttered, wiping away his own tears with his free hand.

 

Sensing they were finished, the reverend smiled and continued on.

"That was wonderful. I could see that you both spoke from the heart, and it shows how much love there is. Donald and Leroy, today your lives with officially join up as one, and in accordance with the law of our land, and in the presence of everyone here today, I announce you husbands for life."

Leaning down, their lips met in a brief kiss, and he pulled his now husband into arms. The room burst into applause and cheering, and slowly, the couple walked back down the aisle together, hand in hand.

 

In moments, Tobias had the car pulled up, and Gibbs opened the door to let Ducky in before sitting on the opposite side, both had been quickly showered in a flurry heart shaped confetti by Abby and Ziva.

As they drove away, everyone else headed for their cars to move down to the next venue.

Neither man could really speak, both wiping the tears from their eyes.

"I'm so happy." Ducky finally said, drying his eyes once again.

With a calming breath, Gibbs replied.

"So am I." his voice broke just slightly and he let out a small laugh, "I love you."

 

Tobias looked in his rear view mirror and smiled. He'd never heard, and certainly never expected to hear his old friend show such emotion. Then he'd never expected Gibbs to look at anything other than a red-headed woman either.

 

The celebration venue, just like the reception room, had been planned out to perfection. Gibbs knew he had to thank Abby with whatever she wanted in the world for keeping everything in order.

This room also consisted of being true to its original features. The oak pillars and beams kept the place's character, despite having balloons hanging from each and every one of them. Tables ran along both sides of the room, leaving the centre open as a dance floor.

Gibbs ran his free hand down one of the beams in appreciation of its well varnished texture. Ducky meanwhile eyed up the location of the toilets.

"I hope you will excuse me a moment, my dear, but I must go freshen up a bit."

"Sure, Duck."

"Miss Scuito really has pulled it off." Tobias said, taking in the place, "Something tells me there's gonna be a lot of that caf-pow stuff in her future."

"Oh yeah."

"You sure know how to wing it on speeches, don't you?"

"Of course. Looks like Duck did as well."

 

Shortly, more and more cars started to arrive. Abby walked in, arm in arm with Jackson at her side, grinning and enjoying the attention from her. She dropped the contact though to carefully run up and pull Gibbs into a hug.

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs!"

"Abs!" he embraced her and kissed her temple, "You've done a fantastic job with all of this."

"I'm glad you're happy with it. There's just one thing, I totally forgot to ask what song you were going to do your first dance to!"

"Frank Sinatra's Moonlight Serenade."

"Okay, will do."

 

She let go and headed over to the DJ.

Jackson smiled again and shook his head.

"What?" Gibbs said, unable to stop a smile spreading across his face.

"You're positively glowing with happiness. Son, I never thought I'd see you like this again after Shannon."

"I don't think anyone did, not even me. And you don't have to say it, okay? I don't plan on screwing this one up."

 

Gradually everyone had arrived and sat down on the available seats.  
Gibbs and Ducky took their assigned places at the centre table and Abby chinked her wine glass several times to get everyone's attention before standing.

"Okay, first off, thank you everyone for attending today. I er, I don't have much of a script, but I know I'm not the only one to have just winged it today." Abby paused a moment to grin at Gibbs and Ducky, "It's of course now time for our loving couple to have their first dance together."

 

Gibbs stood first and took Ducky's hand and lead him to the dance floor. They stopped in the middle, the lights went low, the music started to play, and Sinatra’s voice gently filled the room.

'I stand at your gate.  
And the sing that I sing is of moonlight.  
I stand and I wait.  
For the touch of your hand in the June night.  
The roses are sighing.  
A moonlight serenade'

"Oh, Jethro, did you choose this?"

"Yeah. Did I choose correctly?"

"You did. I'm so very happy."

"Good. So am I."

 

Slowly they swayed together, lost in their moment despite the crowd watching and the flashing of cameras every now and then.

'The stars are aglow.  
And tonight how their light sets me dreaming.  
My love, do you know, that your eyes are like stars brightly beaming.  
I bring you, and I sing you.  
A moonlight serenade.'

"So, did you find something blue to wear?"

"I decided that you were correct, my dear. My eyes are the best thing in blue that I could have worn. "

"Uh-huh, and I get to see them every day."

 

Ducky rested his head on Gibbs' chest, hearing the thudding of his heart and smelling the slight hint of old spice. It smelt like heaven to him.

‘Let us stray 'til break of day  
In love's valley of dreams.  
Just you and I, a summer sky,  
A heavenly breeze, kissin' the trees.  
So don't let me wait.  
Come to me tenderly in the June night.  
I stand at your gate  
And I sing you a song in the moonlight.  
A love song, my darling, a moonlight serenade’

 

It seemed all to soon when the song was over, and they came to a gentle stop. Without having to think about it, Gibbs leaned down and their lips connected for a gentle kiss. The room filled with cheering, and they both blushed as they retook their seats.

 

Soon enough the buffet was open, and Gibbs headed up and returned with two plates of food.

"Thank you, my dear. I'm so very hungry. I really should have had a proper breakfast this morning, but I was so nervous I didn't think I could stomach much."

"Well looking at the size of that buffet spread Abby has put together, I'd say we have enough food to last us a few days."

Throughout their feast, everyone seemed happy enough, all chatting and devouring whatever they could lay their hands on.

 

With a smile, Tobias approached them and whispered to them.

"Gibbs, Ducky, there's someone outside to see you both."

For a moment, Gibbs' stomach plummeted. There's no way Hollis knew where they were celebrating, was there? Looking at Ducky, he could see the same concern.

 

Trying to ignore his gut and trust Tobias, they stepped near to the entrance, where for the second time that day, Diane stood, but this time with her daughter Emily beside her.

"Uncle Jethro!" she squealed in delight and ran to hug him tightly.

"Hey Em. I'm so glad to see you."

Diane smiled, and gently touched Ducky's shoulder.

"I always knew you enjoyed a challenge, Ducky, but you've really excelled this time."

"At my age, you need a bit of a challenge, and the rewards are worth it."

"I bet they are." she said with a wink, "I wish we could have gotten here sooner, but Emily had after school clubs."

"Is there cake?" Emily asked, putting on her pleading eyes.

"There is, but we haven't cut it yet." Gibbs patted her head, "You two wanna stay and have some?"

"Please mom?"

"Alright then, but just for a little while…if that's okay?"

Both Diane and Gibbs looked over to Ducky.

"The more the merrier." Ducky said with a smile, standing aside so that they could join the celebration.

"So, Jethro, does this mean I've missed your first dance?"

"I'm afraid so. Go take a seat where you can find one."

 

As they walked away, he stopped Ducky.

"Duck, You are okay with Diane being here, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. She's of no threat to us, and Emily is so adorable, so I couldn't have you turn them away. I think you and I both feared as to whom it was waiting to see us."

"Yeah, but Tobias would have known to turn her away for us."

"No doubt he would have."

"Guys, come on, it's time to cut the cake." Abby said with a beaming smile, "Tony's been eyeing it up for the past half hour."

"Okay, hold your horses, Abs, we’re coming."

 

They were lead over to their table where the cake had been placed in their absence. The 3 square tiers where white, the bottom one had a bowtie made of icing attached to the front, the one atop that had an icing boat shape, and on the top tier sat a topper simply reading ‘MR & MR’ in a French script font.

They assumed the position, both holding the handle of the knife as it make the first cut into the middle section. More applauding happened and photos were taken.

 

As Abby and Ducky handed out the pieces, Gibbs leaned against the wall beside Diane. She looked up at him and saw the dopey grin on his face.

"He looks as happy as you."

"I should hope so."

"I would have loved to have been there for the whole thing. Tobias told me that your speech was quite the tear jerker."

"Yeah, so?"

"The closest you got to tear jerker with me was the proposal speech. Apart from that, at our wedding you just read the usual vows and that was it. You never said such sweet things that you apparently said to him today. I really hope you continue to tell him how much he means to you."

"I'm pretty sure you already gave me this talk earlier this morning."

"Well I'm reminding you again."

He rolled his eyes in amusement and their discussion was disturbed by Emily happily clasping two pieces of cake in napkins.

"Cake, mom!"

"Okay, come on, let's go to the table to eat it."

 

"Timmy, come dance with me." Abby said, pulling Tim up from his seat by his hands, but he tried to resist.

"Aaaaabby!"

"Come on!"

"Not now."

Ducky stood and approached her, his hand running across Gibbs' waist as he went.

"Come along, my dear, I'll dance with you."

"Yay, Ducky!"

 

Slowly, they glided across the dance floor, and McGee made sure to get a picture of them before approaching Gibbs and pulling a seat up next to him.

"Boss, I've got the tickets for Scotland and the reservation for the cottage in Glasgow I showed you."

"That's a good Job, Tim...Thank you so much."

Tim flushed with happiness.

"No problem, boss. I'll give them over to you and Ducky later on."

 

They sat in silence for a while, just watching everyone happily socialising. In the corner, Gibbs saw the ghostly figure of Mike Franks raise a glass with a grin.

"Jethro? Everything alright, my dear?"

Gibbs looked away back up to Ducky.

"Yeah, Duck, I'm okay."

"What's got you all smiling?"

"Everything I guess."

 

The team again approached the table, all smiled.

"Gibbs. Ducky. This, is from all of us at NCIS." Tim handed over the envelope to them.

"You open it, Duck."

Tearing open the envelope, Ducky gasped as he read the tickets and details attached.

"Scotland."

Gibbs put on a beaming smile.

"Yeah. Just the two of us for a whole fortnight."

"This is...so wonderful." Ducky looked up, once again with tears in his eyes, "Thank you all."

One by one, Ducky hugged each of his co-workers. All accept Vance who he respectfully shook the hand of.

Ducky was bubbling with joy.

"I think I'm going to run out of tears before the evening is through." He said, reaching for a nearby napkin to again wipe away tears.

 

Diane sat watching as Gibbs wrapped his arm around Ducky’s shoulders and kissed his temple. She smiled up at Tobias who was stood beside her.

"Remember when we were like that?" she asked.

"I think I’d remember when you turned into a man."

She huffed out a laugh.

"Very funny."

"It’s one of my finer qualities that you never appreciated. So you really believed those two would get together?"

"I had my suspicions; I just can’t believe it’s taken this long."

"So what about you?"

"I’m comfortable and focusing more on Emily right now."

 

On the dance floor, Emily was dancing with Abby and giggling about something.

"You know, Tobias, when Jethro kept going on about Kelly, after a while, I started to get annoyed with it. Now I’m a mother, I can understand the pain of losing her and Shannon really was, and how I’d feel If I lost Emily. "

"Wouldn’t miss me then?"

"I wouldn’t say that." She looked down at her watch, "Should see about going. You know how cranky Em gets when she’s tired."

"She gets that from you, you know."

She gave him a playful glare which quickly softened, then patted his cheek.

"Make sure the grooms get home safely."

 

Gibbs was whispering something into Ducky’s ear as she approached them, and she spotted a blush quickly rising on Ducky’s cheeks.

"Jethro, we're leaving now. Emily needs to be in bed by the time we get in."

"Mom! I'm not tired!" she stropped before letting out an unstoppable yawn.

The two men stood and moved around the table to say their goodbyes.

"Come 'ere, Em." Gibbs pulled her into his arms and lifted her up, "My girl, you're growing up fast."

"You bet I am."

"You take care of yourself and your mom."

"I will." She wrapped her arms around his neck for a hug, "Bye Uncle Jethro."

"Bye sweetheart."

Giving her a kiss on the forehead, he carefully put her down again.

"Bye Uncle Ducky."

Emily reached out to hug him too.

"Goodbye, my dear." he hugged her and handed her another slice of cake wrapped up in a few napkins, "Don't tell your mother." and he winked.

"I won't." she whispered back with a giggle as she stuffed it in her coat pocket.

 

They followed them to the doorway and waved them off.

"Ah, Jethro, Emily is a little sweetheart."

"Yeah. Was that more cake I see you slip to her, Duck?"

"Maybe. I just can't believe she called me 'Uncle'."

Gibbs put his arm around Ducky’s waist and pulled him closer.

The air began to get chilly and the night had drawn in.

"Oh!" Ducky said.

"Duck?"

"A shooting star, Jethro!"

He looked up, but the sky seemed still.

"I missed it. Hope you made a wish."

"Of course. For now though, I do wish to go back inside. "

"Yeah, it’s getting chilly. No doubt everyone will be leaving soon enough anyway."

 

As the time got later, guests started saying their goodbyes and Ducky too started to tire. Abby and McGee were clearing tables whilst Ziva swept the floor of confetti, cake crumbs and leftover cocktail weenies.

Gently, Gibbs nudged him.

"Near enough everyone's gone. Want to see about getting home, Duck?"

"Please, Jethro. I'm sorry, but I don't think our wedding night is going to be all that exciting."

He silenced the older man with a kiss.

"All I wanted out of this day was for us to be together and for you to be as happy as you make me."

"You're happy too, aren't you?"

"Of course I am."

"Right, are you two ready?" Tobias asked, still smiling.

"We most definitely are." Gibbs stood, holding Ducky's hands to help him up."Up we go, Duck."

 

After having said their goodbyes to everyone, they climbed into the back seat of the car, and within a few minutes on the road, Ducky was already asleep.

"When you leaving for Scotland?" Tobias asked, trying to keep his voice down.

"McGee got the tickets for the day after tomorrow. Thought it was best since Ducky didn't know the plans, and it'll give us a chance to prepare."

Arriving back home, Gibbs gently shook Ducky awake.

"We're home, Duck."

"Are we?" he blinked several times.

"Yeah. Come on, let's get things sorted and get to bed."

 

Having now waved Tobias off, and usual security checks done, they were upstairs in no time, undressed, and lay content each other's arms.

Gibbs let out a long sigh of relief. All the weeks of planning were finally over, and it all went off without a hitch. He certainly owed it to his team for all the hard work they put into it. Ducky heard the sigh and looked up at him.

"Is everything alright, my dear?"

"Yeah…You are happy, aren't you? I mean, the wedding was everything you'd hoped for?"

"It was perfect, and more. I guess I can certainly say that it was worth the wait to make that trip up the aisle."

"Good. Besides, you're the only duck in my pond."

Ducky snorted.

"Oh Jethro, that is so undeniably cheesy."

Gibbs laughed, pulling his husband close to him and kissed the top of his head, "I know, but it's true."

 

Gently, his hand stroked over Ducky's hair and down his cheek. Within minutes, they were both fast asleep, having officially taken that big step that they both knew they should have taken years ago. None of that mattered now, because they had each other, to have and to hold, now and forever. Husbands For Life


End file.
